RNA-Seq analysis of Tococa quadrialata leaves from colonized or ant-deprived plants upon herbivory
RNA was isolated from ground leaf powder utilizing the SpectrumTM Plant Total RNA Kit (50) (Sigma-Aldrich)  with an on-column DNA digestion using DNaseI (ZymoResearch). After a further purification step (OneStep PCR Inhibitor Removal Kit, ZymoResearch), RNA concentration, purity, and quality were assessed using a spectrophotometer (NanoDrop 2000c; Thermo Scientific) and an Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer (Agilent Technologies).The isolated RNA was sent to the Novogene Europe, Cambridge, UK for analysis on an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 instrument (San Diego, CA, USA). There, 20 M paired end reads of 150 bp per sample were generated from the leaf transcriptome libraries of ant-colonized and ant-deprived plants that were subjected to herbivore or control treatment.