Chromosome Level Assembly of the Comma Butterfly (Polygonia c-album). (22nd March 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Celorio-Mancera, Maria de la Paz; Rastas, Pasi; Steward, Rachel A; Nylin, Soren; Wheat, Christopher W
• Editors: Betancourt, Andrea
• Is Part Of: Genome biology and evolution. Volume 13:Number 5(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-03-22
• Subjects: linkage map -- butterfly genome -- quantitative annotation assessment -- comparative genomics -- Polygonia c-album; Genomics -- Periodicals; Genes -- Periodicals; 572.8605
• DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evab054
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-6653

Abstract

Abstract: The comma butterfly ( Polygonia c-album, Nymphalidae, Lepidoptera) is a model insect species, most notably in the study of phenotypic plasticity and plant-insect coevolutionary interactions. In order to facilitate the integration of genomic tools with a diverse body of ecological and evolutionary research, we assembled the genome of a Swedish comma using 10X sequencing, scaffolding with matepair data, genome polishing, and assignment to linkage groups using a high-density linkage map. The resulting genome is 373 Mb in size, with a scaffold N50 of 11.7 Mb and contig N50 of 11, 2Mb. The genome contained 90.1% of single-copy Lepidopteran orthologs in a BUSCO analysis of 5, 286 genes. A total of 21, 004 gene-models were annotated on the genome using RNA-Seq data from larval and adult tissue in combination with proteins from the Arthropoda database, resulting in a high-quality annotation for which functional annotations were generated. We further documented the quality of the chromosomal assembly via synteny assessment with Melitaea cinxia . The resulting annotated, chromosome-level genome will provide an important resource for investigating coevolutionary dynamics and comparative analyses in Lepidoptera.