A combined protein toxin screening based on the transcriptome and proteome of Solenopsis invicta

Background: Multi-omics technology provides a good tool to analyze the protein toxin composition and search for the potential pathogenic factors of Solenopsis invicta, under the great harm of the accelerated invasion in southern China. Methods: Species collection, functional annotation, toxin screening, and 3D modeling construction of three interested toxins were performed based on the successfully constructed transcriptome and proteome of S. invicta. Results: A total of 33,231 unigenes and 721 proteins were obtained from the constructed transcriptome and proteome, of which 9,842 (29.62%) and 4,844 (14.58%) unigenes, as well as 469 (65.05%) and 71 (99.45%) proteins were annotated against the databases of Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, respectively. After comparing with the uniprot toxin database, a total of 316 unigenes and 47 proteins (calglandulin, venom allergen 3, and venom prothrombin activator hopsarin-D, etc.) were successfully screened. Conclusions: The update of annotations at the transcriptome and proteome levels presents a progression in the comprehension of S. invicta in China. We also provide a protein toxin list that could be used for further exploration of toxicity as well as its antagonistic strategy by S. invicta.