Nasonia vitripennis. ©Oliver Niehuis
With over 115,000 described species, the order Hymenoptera comprises approximately 10% of the species diversity on Earth. The largest described family in the order, Icheumonidae, contains more species than all species of birds and mammals combined! This group of 'membrane-winged' insects includes sawflies, bees, ants and wasps, which directly affect human health and agriculture through diverse roles such as pollinators, pests and parasitoids.
The Hymenoptera Genome Database (HGD) is an informatics resource supporting genomics of insect species of this order. HGD provides access to the genomes of bees Apis mellifera, Bombus terrestris and B. impatiens, the parasitoid wasp Nasonia vitripennis, and seven species of ants available through the Ant Genomes Portal. It will soon incorporate genome databases for two additional species of bees, Apis dorsata and A. florea, as well as two additional species of ants. Combining these species into a single resource allows biologists to leverage the genome information, and enhances the value of genomic data for each species by facilitating cross-species comparisons.
What's new in HGD?
- Take a peek at our redesigned page for downloading assemblies and Official Gene Sets from the current and previous versions of the Apis mellifera genomes. Visit the new Data Sets Page on BeeBase..
- "All versus All' protein alignments: Alignments of protein sets from all available species of Hymenoptera are now available at the Ant Genomes Portal. Visit individual genome pages and click on 'Data Sets' for more information.