Fire ant germline transcriptome

To identify transposable elements expressed in the germline, we extracted RNA from fire ant ovaries and testes. To obtain “mature” ovaries for RNA isolation, we artificially removed the wings from randomly selected virgin queens to stimulate ovary development. To ensure that the ovaries were mature, we dissected virgin queen ovaries seven days after the first egg was laid. In total, we sampled 10 and 11 pairs of ovaries from SB/SB monogyne (derived from one monogyne colony; sample EG02) and SB/Sb polygyne virgin queens (derived from one polygyne colony; sample EG01), respectively.Because the testes degenerate in the adult stage and since germ cells are the ones contributing to all future generations, we decided to dissect testes from presumptive third and fourth instar larvae (body length > 3 mm; n=63, all from one colony; sample EG03).