Cloning of troponin C and other gene fragments from the red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

During experiments aimed at cloning G protein-coupled receptors from worker red imported fire ants, several PCR products were obtained. One product of 685 by encodes the full open reading frame of troponin C, a calcium-binding protein that is critical for muscle contraction. Other protein-encoding fragments were also identified, including PCR products corresponding to a putative glucose transporter protein (534 bp), elongation factor 2 (850 bp), filamin (600 bp), a cuticular protein (450 bp), dynein-associated polypeptide (652 bp) and dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase (434 bp). These PCR products may be suitable for various experiments, such control probes for Southern and northern blots, in situ hybridization, semi-quantitative PCR or to design specific primers to amplify longer genomic DNA fragments to aid in phylogenetic analysis, or for cytogenetics and mapping.