The Easter Egg Weevil ( < i > Pachyrhynchus < /i > ) genome reveals syntenic patterns in Coleoptera across 200 million years of evolution

by Matthew H. Van Dam, Analyn Anzano Cabras, James B. Henderson, Andrew J. Rominger, Cynthia P érez Estrada, Arina D. Omer, Olga Dudchenko, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Athena W. Lam

Patterns of genomic architecture across insects remain largely undocumented or decoupled from a broader phylogenetic context. For instance, it is unknown whether translocation rates differ between insect orders. We address broad scale patterns of genome architecture across Insecta by examining syn teny in a phylogenetic framework from open-source insect genomes. To accomplish this, we add a chromosome level genome to a crucial lineage, Coleoptera. Our assembly of thePachyrhynchus sulphureomaculatus genome is the first chromosome scale genome for the hyperdiverse Phytophaga lineage and currently the largest insect genome assembled to this scale. The genome is significantly larger than those of other weevils, and this increase in size is caused by repetitive elements. Our results also indicate that, among beetles, there are instances of long-lasting (>200 Ma) localization of genes to a particular chromosome with few translocation events. While some chromosomes have a paucity of translocations, intra-chromosomal synteny was almost absent, with gene order thoroughly shuffled along a chromosome. This large amount of reshuffling within chromosomes with few inter-chromosomal events contrasts with patterns seen in mammals in which the chromosomes tend to exchange larger blocks of material more readily. To pla...

Source: PLoS Genetics - August 30, 2021 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Matthew H. Van Dam Source Type: research