Abstract

Two subspecies of Asian gypsy moth (AGM), Lymantria dispar asiatica and L. dispar japonica, pose a serious alien invasive threat to North American forests. Despite decades of research on the ecology and biology of this pest, limited AGM-specific genomic resources are currently available. Here, we report on the genome sequences and functional content of these AGM subspecies. The genomes of L.d. asiatica and L.d. japonica are the largest lepidopteran genomes sequenced to date, totaling 921 and 999 megabases, respectively. Large genome size in these subspecies is driven by the accumulation of specific classes of repeats. Genome-wide metabolic pathway reconstructions suggest strong genomic signatures of energy-related pathways in both subspecies, dominated by metabolic functions related to thermogenesis. The genome sequences reported here will provide tools for probing the molecular mechanisms underlying phenotypic traits that are thought to enhance AGM invasiveness.

Details

Title
Expansion of LINEs and species-specific DNA repeats drives genome expansion in Asian Gypsy Moths
Author
Francois Olivier Hebert 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Freschi, Luca 1 ; Blackburn, Gwylim 1 ; Béliveau, Catherine 2 ; Dewar, Ken 3 ; Boyle, Brian 1 ; Gundersen-Rindal, Dawn E 4 ; Sparks, Michael E 4 ; Cusson, Michel 5   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hamelin, Richard C 6 ; Levesque, Roger C 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Canada 
2  Laurentian Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 
3  Department of human genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada 
4  United States Department of Agriculture - ARS Invasive Insect Biocontrol and Behavior Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland, USA 
5  Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Canada; Laurentian Forestry Centre, Canadian Forest Service, Natural Resources Canada, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 
6  Institut de Biologie Intégrative et des Systèmes (IBIS), Université Laval, Ville de Québec, Canada; Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 
Pages
1-10
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Nov 2019
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-52840-z
ProQuest document ID
2313767471
Copyright
© 2019. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.