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Abstract Comparisons of high-quality, reference butterfly, and moth genomes have been instrumental to advancing our understanding of how hybridization, and natural selection drive genomic change during the origin of new species and novel traits. Here, we present a genome assembly of the Southern Dogface butterfly, Zerene cesonia (Pieridae) whose brilliant wing colorations have been implicated in developmental plasticity, hybridization, sexual selection, and speciation. We assembled 266,407,278 bp of the Z. cesonia genome, which accounts for 98.3% of the estimated 271 Mb genome size. Using a hybrid approach involving Chicago libraries with Hi-Rise assembly and a diploid Meraculous assembly, the final haploid genome was assembled. In the final assembly, nearly all autosomes and the Z chromosome were assembled into single scaffolds. The largest 29 scaffolds accounted for 91.4% of the genome assembly, with the remaining ∼8% distributed among another 247 scaffolds and overall N50 of 9.2 Mb. Tissue-specific RNA-seq informed annotations identified 16,442 protein-coding genes, which included 93.2% of the arthropod Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO). The Z. cesonia genome assembly had ∼9% identified as repetitive elements, with a transposable element landscape rich in helitrons. Similar to other Lepidoptera genomes, Z. cesonia showed a high conservation of chromosomal synteny. The Z. cesonia assembly provides a high-quality reference for studies of chromosomal arrangements in the Pierid family, as well as for population, phylo, and functional genomic studies of adaptation and speciation.
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High-Quality Genome Assembly and Comprehensive Transcriptome of the Painted Lady Butterfly Vanessa cardui
Abstract The painted lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui, has the longest migration routes, the widest hostplant diversity, and one of the most complex wing patterns of any insect. Due to minimal culturing requirements, easily characterized wing pattern elements, and technical feasibility of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing, V. cardui is emerging as a functional genomics model for diverse research programs. Here, we report a high-quality, annotated genome assembly of the V. cardui genome, generated using 84× coverage of PacBio long-read data, which we assembled into 205 contigs with a total length of 425.4 Mb (N50 = 10.3 Mb). The genome was very complete (single-copy complete Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs [BUSCO] 97%), with contigs assembled into presumptive chromosomes using synteny analyses. Our annotation used embryonic, larval, and pupal transcriptomes, and 20 transcriptomes across five different wing developmental stages. Gene annotations showed a high level of accuracy and completeness, with 14,437 predicted protein-coding genes. This annotated genome assembly constitutes an important resource for diverse functional genomic studies ranging from the developmental genetic basis of butterfly color pattern, to coevolution with diverse hostplants.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1753559
- PAR ID:
- 10320353
- Editor(s):
- Lavrov, Dennis
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Genome Biology and Evolution
- Volume:
- 13
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 1759-6653
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab145
