RNA sequencing of Harpegnathos saltator workers and gamergates' non-visual brains, ovaries, and fat bodies at 0, 3, and 10 days after initiation of the dueling tournament

Ant societies exhibit a division of labor in which a queen is in charge of reproduction while non-reproductive workers maintain the colony. In Harpegnathos saltator, workers retain reproductive ability, inhibited by the queen pheromones. Following the queen loss, the colony undergoes social unrest with an antenna dueling tournament. Most workers quickly abandon the tournament while a few workers continue the dueling for months and become gamergates (pseudoqueens). However, the temporal dynamics of the molecular mechanisms underlining the caste transition and social dominance remain unclear. To identify genetic factors responsible for this transition, we compared transcriptomes of ovary, fat body, and non-visual brains between dueling and non-dueling workers. Overall design: We sequenced five replicates of the three tissues (fat body, ovary, and non-visual brains) at day 0. We then sequenced five replicates for each tissue at day 3 and day 10 from two groups of ants, prospective workers and prospective gamergates.