scholarly journals The de novo genome of the “Spanish” slug Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855 (Gastropoda: Panpulmonata): massive expansion of transposable elements in a major pest species

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zeyuan Chen ◽  
Özgül Doğan ◽  
Nadège Guiglielmoni ◽  
Anne Guichard ◽  
Michael Schrödl

AbstractBackgroundThe “Spanish” slug, Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855, is considered to be among the 100 worst pest species in Europe. It is common and invasive to at least northern and eastern parts of Europe, probably benefitting from climate change and the modern human lifestyle. The origin and expansion of this species, the mechanisms behind its outstanding adaptive success and ability to outcompete other land slugs are worth to be explored on a genomic level. However, a high-quality chromosome-level genome is still lacking.FindingsThe final assembly of A. vulgaris was obtained by combining short reads, linked reads, Nanopore long reads, and Hi-C data. The genome assembly size is 1.54 Gb with a contig N50 length of 8.6 Mb. We found a recent expansion of transposable elements (TEs) which results in repetitive sequences accounting for more than 75% of the A. vulgaris genome, which is the highest among all known gastropod species. We identified 32,518 protein coding genes, and 2,763 species specific genes were functionally enriched in response to stimuli, nervous system and reproduction. With 1,237 single-copy orthologs from A. vulgaris and other related mollusks with whole-genome data available, we reconstructed the phylogenetic relationships of gastropods and estimated the divergence time of stylommatophoran land snails (Achatina) and Arion slugs at around 126 million years ago, and confirmed the whole genome duplication event shared by them.ConclusionsTo our knowledge, the A. vulgaris genome is the first land slug genome assembly published to date. The high-quality genomic data will provide valuable genetic resources for further phylogeographic studies of A. vulgaris origin and expansion, invasiveness, as well as molluscan aquatic-land transition and shell formation.

GigaScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Xing ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
Qing Zhang ◽  
Xinghua Nie ◽  
Yamin Sun ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundThe Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) is widely cultivated in China for nut production. This plant also plays an important ecological role in afforestation and ecosystem services. To facilitate and expand the use of C. mollissima for breeding and its genetic improvement, we report here the whole-genome sequence of C. mollissima.FindingsWe produced a high-quality assembly of the C. mollissima genome using Pacific Biosciences single-molecule sequencing. The final draft genome is ∼785.53 Mb long, with a contig N50 size of 944 kb, and we further annotated 36,479 protein-coding genes in the genome. Phylogenetic analysis showed that C. mollissima diverged from Quercus robur, a member of the Fagaceae family, ∼13.62 million years ago.ConclusionsThe high-quality whole-genome assembly of C. mollissima will be a valuable resource for further genetic improvement and breeding for disease resistance and nut quality.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. e1008325
Author(s):  
Hyungtaek Jung ◽  
Tomer Ventura ◽  
J. Sook Chung ◽  
Woo-Jin Kim ◽  
Bo-Hye Nam ◽  
...  

Eukaryotic genome sequencing and de novo assembly, once the exclusive domain of well-funded international consortia, have become increasingly affordable, thus fitting the budgets of individual research groups. Third-generation long-read DNA sequencing technologies are increasingly used, providing extensive genomic toolkits that were once reserved for a few select model organisms. Generating high-quality genome assemblies and annotations for many aquatic species still presents significant challenges due to their large genome sizes, complexity, and high chromosome numbers. Indeed, selecting the most appropriate sequencing and software platforms and annotation pipelines for a new genome project can be daunting because tools often only work in limited contexts. In genomics, generating a high-quality genome assembly/annotation has become an indispensable tool for better understanding the biology of any species. Herein, we state 12 steps to help researchers get started in genome projects by presenting guidelines that are broadly applicable (to any species), sustainable over time, and cover all aspects of genome assembly and annotation projects from start to finish. We review some commonly used approaches, including practical methods to extract high-quality DNA and choices for the best sequencing platforms and library preparations. In addition, we discuss the range of potential bioinformatics pipelines, including structural and functional annotations (e.g., transposable elements and repetitive sequences). This paper also includes information on how to build a wide community for a genome project, the importance of data management, and how to make the data and results Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) by submitting them to a public repository and sharing them with the research community.


PeerJ ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. e8914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Wang ◽  
Fang Wang ◽  
Rongkai Hao ◽  
Aizhen Wang ◽  
Kirill Sharshov ◽  
...  

Background The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) mainly inhabits the plateau wetlands of Asia. As a specialized high-altitude species, bar-headed geese can migrate between South and Central Asia and annually fly twice over the Himalayan mountains along the central Asian flyway. The physiological, biochemical and behavioral adaptations of bar-headed geese to high-altitude living and flying have raised much interest. However, to date, there is still no genome assembly information publicly available for bar-headed geese. Methods In this study, we present the first de novo whole genome sequencing and assembly of the bar-headed goose, along with gene prediction and annotation. Results 10X Genomics sequencing produced a total of 124 Gb sequencing data, which can cover the estimated genome size of bar-headed goose for 103 times (average coverage). The genome assembly comprised 10,528 scaffolds, with a total length of 1.143 Gb and a scaffold N50 of 10.09 Mb. Annotation of the bar-headed goose genome assembly identified a total of 102 Mb (8.9%) of repetitive sequences, 16,428 protein-coding genes, and 282 tRNAs. In total, we determined that there were 63 expanded and 20 contracted gene families in the bar-headed goose compared with the other 15 vertebrates. We also performed a positive selection analysis between the bar-headed goose and the closely related low-altitude goose, swan goose (Anser cygnoides), to uncover its genetic adaptations to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Conclusion We reported the currently most complete genome sequence of the bar-headed goose. Our assembly will provide a valuable resource to enhance further studies of the gene functions of bar-headed goose. The data will also be valuable for facilitating studies of the evolution, population genetics and high-altitude adaptations of the bar-headed geese at the genomic level.


Author(s):  
Seyoung Mun ◽  
Songmi Kim ◽  
Wooseok Lee ◽  
Keunsoo Kang ◽  
Thomas J. Meyer ◽  
...  

AbstractAdvances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology have made personal genome sequencing possible, and indeed, many individual human genomes have now been sequenced. Comparisons of these individual genomes have revealed substantial genomic differences between human populations as well as between individuals from closely related ethnic groups. Transposable elements (TEs) are known to be one of the major sources of these variations and act through various mechanisms, including de novo insertion, insertion-mediated deletion, and TE–TE recombination-mediated deletion. In this study, we carried out de novo whole-genome sequencing of one Korean individual (KPGP9) via multiple insert-size libraries. The de novo whole-genome assembly resulted in 31,305 scaffolds with a scaffold N50 size of 13.23 Mb. Furthermore, through computational data analysis and experimental verification, we revealed that 182 TE-associated structural variation (TASV) insertions and 89 TASV deletions contributed 64,232 bp in sequence gain and 82,772 bp in sequence loss, respectively, in the KPGP9 genome relative to the hg19 reference genome. We also verified structural differences associated with TASVs by comparative analysis with TASVs in recent genomes (AK1 and TCGA genomes) and reported their details. Here, we constructed a new Korean de novo whole-genome assembly and provide the first study, to our knowledge, focused on the identification of TASVs in an individual Korean genome. Our findings again highlight the role of TEs as a major driver of structural variations in human individual genomes.


Author(s):  
Tomas N Generalovic ◽  
Shane A McCarthy ◽  
Ian A Warren ◽  
Jonathan M D Wood ◽  
James Torrance ◽  
...  

Abstract Hermetia illucens L. (Diptera: Stratiomyidae), the Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is an increasingly important species for bioconversion of organic material into animal feed. We generated a high-quality chromosome-scale genome assembly of the BSF using Pacific Bioscience, 10X Genomics linked read and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture sequencing technology. Scaffolding the final assembly with Hi-C data produced a highly contiguous 1.01 Gb genome with 99.75% of scaffolds assembled into pseudochromosomes representing seven chromosomes with 16.01 Mb contig and 180.46 Mb scaffold N50 values. The highly complete genome obtained a BUSCO completeness of 98.6%. We masked 67.32% of the genome as repetitive sequences and annotated a total of 16,478 protein-coding genes using the BRAKER2 pipeline. We analysed an established lab population to investigate the genomic variation and architecture of the BSF revealing six autosomes and an X chromosome. Additionally, we estimated the inbreeding coefficient (1.9%) of a lab population by assessing runs of homozygosity. This provided evidence for inbreeding events including long runs of homozygosity on chromosome five. Release of this novel chromosome-scale BSF genome assembly will provide an improved resource for further genomic studies, functional characterisation of genes of interest and genetic modification of this economically important species.


DNA Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 195-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideki Hirakawa ◽  
Katsuhiko Sumitomo ◽  
Tamotsu Hisamatsu ◽  
Soichiro Nagano ◽  
Kenta Shirasawa ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Yuanchao Liu ◽  
Longhua Huang ◽  
Huiping Hu ◽  
Manjun Cai ◽  
Xiaowei Liang ◽  
...  

Abstract Ganoderma leucocontextum, a newly discovered species of Ganodermataceae in China, has diverse pharmacological activities. G. leucocontextum was widely cultivated in southwest China, but the systematic genetic study has been impeded by the lack of a reference genome. Herein, we present the first whole-genome assembly of G. leucocontextum based on the Illumina and Nanopore platform from high-quality DNA extracted from a monokaryon strain (DH-8). The generated genome was 50.05 Mb in size with a N50 scaffold size of 3.06 Mb, 78,206 coding sequences and 13,390 putative genes. Genome completeness was assessed using the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) tool, which identified 96.55% of the 280 Fungi BUSCO genes. Furthermore, differences in functional genes of secondary metabolites (terpenoids) were analyzed between G. leucocontextum and G. lucidum. G. leucocontextum has more genes related to terpenoids synthesis compared to G. lucidum, which may be one of the reasons why they exhibit different biological activities. This is the first genome assembly and annotation for G. leucocontextum, which would enrich the toolbox for biological and genetic studies in G. leucocontextum.


Author(s):  
Valentina Peona ◽  
Mozes P.K. Blom ◽  
Luohao Xu ◽  
Reto Burri ◽  
Shawn Sullivan ◽  
...  

AbstractGenome assemblies are currently being produced at an impressive rate by consortia and individual laboratories. The low costs and increasing efficiency of sequencing technologies have opened up a whole new world of genomic biodiversity. Although these technologies generate high-quality genome assemblies, there are still genomic regions difficult to assemble, like repetitive elements and GC-rich regions (genomic “dark matter”). In this study, we compare the efficiency of currently used sequencing technologies (short/linked/long reads and proximity ligation maps) and combinations thereof in assembling genomic dark matter starting from the same sample. By adopting different de-novo assembly strategies, we were able to compare each individual draft assembly to a curated multiplatform one and identify the nature of the previously missing dark matter with a particular focus on transposable elements, multi-copy MHC genes, and GC-rich regions. Thanks to this multiplatform approach, we demonstrate the feasibility of producing a high-quality chromosome-level assembly for a non-model organism (paradise crow) for which only suboptimal samples are available. Our approach was able to reconstruct complex chromosomes like the repeat-rich W sex chromosome and several GC-rich microchromosomes. Telomere-to-telomere assemblies are not a reality yet for most organisms, but by leveraging technology choice it is possible to minimize genome assembly gaps for downstream analysis. We provide a roadmap to tailor sequencing projects around the completeness of both the coding and non-coding parts of the genomes.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinxin Yi ◽  
Jing Liu ◽  
Shengcai Chen ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
Min Liu ◽  
...  

Cultivated soybean (Glycine max) is an important source for protein and oil. Many elite cultivars with different traits have been developed for different conditions. Each soybean strain has its own genetic diversity, and the availability of more high-quality soybean genomes can enhance comparative genomic analysis for identifying genetic underpinnings for its unique traits. In this study, we constructed a high-quality de novo assembly of an elite soybean cultivar Jidou 17 (JD17) with chromsome contiguity and high accuracy. We annotated 52,840 gene models and reconstructed 74,054 high-quality full-length transcripts. We performed a genome-wide comparative analysis based on the reference genome of JD17 with three published soybeans (WM82, ZH13 and W05) , which identified five large inversions and two large translocations specific to JD17, 20,984 - 46,912 PAVs spanning 13.1 - 46.9 Mb in size, and 5 - 53 large PAV clusters larger than 500kb. 1,695,741 - 3,664,629 SNPs and 446,689 - 800,489 Indels were identified and annotated between JD17 and them. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) genes were identified and the effects from these variants were further evaluated. It was found that the coding sequences of 9 nitrogen fixation-related genes were greatly affected. The high-quality genome assembly of JD17 can serve as a valuable reference for soybean functional genomics research.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Feng ◽  
Leslie Y. Beh ◽  
Wei-Jen Chang ◽  
Laura F. Landweber

AbstractCiliates are microbial eukaryotes with distinct somatic and germline genomes. Post-zygotic development involves extensive remodeling of the germline genome to form somatic chromosomes. Ciliates therefore offer a valuable model for studying the architecture and evolution of programmed genome rearrangements. Current studies usually focus on a few model species, where rearrangement features are annotated by aligning reference germline and somatic genomes. While many high-quality somatic genomes have been assembled, a high quality germline genome assembly is difficult to obtain due to its smaller DNA content and abundance of repetitive sequences. To overcome these hurdles, we propose a new pipeline SIGAR (Splitread Inference of Genome Architecture and Rearrangements) to infer germline genome architecture and rearrangement features without a germline genome assembly, requiring only short germline DNA sequencing reads. As a proof of principle, 93% of rearrangement junctions identified by SIGAR in the ciliate Oxytricha trifallax were validated by the existing germline assembly. We then applied SIGAR to six diverse ciliate species without germline genome assemblies, including Ichthyophthirius multifilii, a fish pathogen. Despite the high level of somatic DNA contamination in each sample, SIGAR successfully inferred rearrangement junctions, short eliminated sequences and potential scrambled genes in each species. This pipeline enables pilot surveys or exploration of DNA rearrangements in species with limited DNA material access, thereby providing new insights into the evolution of chromosome rearrangements.


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