Data from: Prospecting for viral natural enemies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta in Argentina

Metagenomics and next generation sequencing were employed to discover new virus natural enemies of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren in its native range (i.e., Formosa, Argentina) with the ultimate goal of testing and releasing new viral pathogens into U.S. S. invicta populations to provide natural, sustainable control of this ant. RNA was purified from worker ants from 182 S. invicta colonies, which was pooled into 4 groups according to location. A library was created from each group and sequenced using Illumina Miseq technology. After a series of winnowing methods to remove S. invicta genes, known S. invicta virus genes, and all other non-virus gene sequences, 61,944 unique singletons were identified with virus identity. These were assembled de novo yielding 171 contiguous sequences with significant identity to non-plant virus genes. Fifteen contiguous sequences exhibited very high expression rates and were detected in all four gene libraries. One contig (Contig_29) exhibited the highest expression level overall and across all four gene libraries. Random amplification of cDNA ends analyses expanded this contiguous sequence yielding a complete virus genome, which we have provisionally named Solenopsis invicta virus 5 (SINV-5). SINV-5 is a positive-sense, single-stranded RNA virus with genome characteristics consistent with insect-infecting viruses from the family Dicistroviridae. Moreover, the replicative genome strand of SINV-5 was detected in worker ants indicating that S. invicta serves as host for the virus. Many additional sequences were identified that are likely of viral origin. These sequences await further investigation to determine their origins and relationship with S. invicta. This study expands knowledge of the RNA virome diversity found within S. invicta populations. Resources in this dataset:Resource Title: Prospecting for viral natural enemies of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta in Argentina (figshare). File Name: Web Page, url: https://figshare.com/articles/Prospecting_for_viral_natural_enemies_of_the_fire_ant_i_Solenopsis_invicta_i_in_Argentina/5910913

利用宏基因组学和下一代测序技术，本研究旨在发掘红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta Buren）在其原生分布区（即，台湾、阿根廷）的自然天敌病毒，以期在美利坚合众国红火蚁种群中测试和释放新型病毒病原体，以提供自然、可持续的控制手段。从182个S. invicta蚁群中的工蚁中纯化RNA，并根据地理位置将其分为4组。从每组中创建文库，并使用Illumina Miseq技术进行测序。经过一系列筛选方法去除S. invicta基因、已知S. invicta病毒基因以及所有其他非病毒基因序列后，共识别出61,944个具有病毒身份的独特单序列。这些序列经过从头组装，产生了171个连续序列，与非植物病毒基因具有显著的同源性。其中15个连续序列表现出非常高的表达率，并在所有四个基因文库中被检测到。一个连续序列（Contig_29）在总体表达水平和所有四个基因文库中均表现出最高的表达水平。通过cDNA末端随机扩增分析，这一连续序列得到了扩展，最终获得了完整的病毒基因组，我们暂时将其命名为Solenopsis invicta病毒5（SINV-5）。SINV-5是一种正链单链RNA病毒，其基因组特征与感染昆虫的迪西托病毒科病毒一致。此外，SINV-5的复制基因组链在工蚁中被检测到，表明S. invicta是该病毒的宿主。还识别出许多其他可能具有病毒起源的序列，这些序列有待进一步研究以确定其来源及其与S. invicta的关系。本研究扩展了我们对红火蚁种群中RNA病毒组多样性的认识。本数据集包含的资源：资源标题：在阿根廷寻找红火蚁Solenopsis invicta的病毒天敌（figshare）。文件名：网页，URL：https://figshare.com/articles/Prospecting_for_viral_natural_enemies_of_the_fire_ant_i_Solenopsis_invicta_i_in_Argentina/5910913