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  • The draft genome sequence of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis towards an understanding of horn formation
Title: The draft genome sequence of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus septentrionalis towards an understanding of horn formation
Abstract The Japanese rhinoceros beetleTrypoxylus dichotomusis a giant beetle with distinctive exaggerated horns present on the head and prothoracic regions of the male.T. dichotomushas been used as a research model in various fields such as evolutionary developmental biology, ecology, ethology, biomimetics, and drug discovery. In this study, de novo assembly of 615 Mb, representing 80% of the genome estimated by flow cytometry, was obtained using the 10 × Chromium platform. The scaffold N50 length of the genome assembly was 8.02 Mb, with repetitive elements predicted to comprise 49.5% of the assembly. In total, 23,987 protein-coding genes were predicted in the genome. In addition, de novo assembly of the mitochondrial genome yielded a contig of 20,217 bp. We also analyzed the transcriptome by generating 16 RNA-seq libraries from a variety of tissues of both sexes and developmental stages, which allowed us to identify 13 co-expressed gene modules. We focused on the genes related to horn formation and obtained new insights into the evolution of the gene repertoire and sexual dimorphism as exemplified by the sex-specific splicing pattern of thedoublesexgene. This genomic information will be an excellent resource for further functional and evolutionary analyses, including the evolutionary origin and genetic regulation of beetle horns and the molecular mechanisms underlying sexual dimorphism.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2015907
PAR ID:
10522705
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; « less
Publisher / Repository:
Scientific Reports
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Scientific Reports
Volume:
13
Issue:
1
ISSN:
2045-2322
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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