Author:
Morita Shinichi,Shibata Tomoko F.,Nishiyama Tomoaki,Kobayashi Yuuki,Yamaguchi Katsushi,Toga Kouhei,Ohde Takahiro,Gotoh Hiroki,Kojima Takaaki,Weber Jesse N.,Salvemini Marco,Bino Takahiro,Mase Mutsuki,Nakata Moe,Mori Tomoko,Mori Shogo,Cornette Richard,Sakura Kazuki,Lavine Laura C.,Emlen Douglas J.,Niimi Teruyuki,Shigenobu Shuji
Abstract
AbstractThe Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus is a giant beetle with distinctive exaggerated horns present on the head and prothoracic regions of the male. T. dichotomus has 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 the doublesex gene. 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.
Funder
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
National Science Foundation
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC