Male-specific exaggerated horns are an evolutionary novelty and have diverged rapidly via intrasexual selection. Here, we investigated the function of the conserved sex-determination gene doublesex (dsx) in the Japanese rhinoceros beetle (Trypoxylus dichotomus) using RNA interference (RNAi). Our results show that the sex-specific T. dichotomus dsx isoforms have an antagonistic function for head horn formation and only the male isoform has a role for thoracic horn formation. These results indicate that the novel sex-specific regulation of dsx during horn morphogenesis might have been the key evolutionary developmental event at the transition from sexually monomorphic to sexually dimorphic horns.

Beetle horns are attractive models for studying the evolution of novel traits, as they display diverse shapes, sizes, and numbers among closely related species within the family Scarabaeidae. Horns radiated prolifically and independently in two distant subfamilies of scarabs, the dung beetles (Scarabaeinae), and the rhinoceros beetles (Dynastinae). However, current knowledge of the mechanisms underlying horn diversification remains limited to a single genus of dung beetles, Onthophagus. Here we unveil 11 horn formation genes in a rhinoceros beetle, Trypoxylus dichotomus. These 11 genes are mostly categorized as larval head- and appendage-patterning genes that also are involved in Onthophagus horn formation, suggesting the same suite of genes was recruited in each lineage during horn evolution. Although our RNAi analyses reveal interesting differences in the functions of a few of these genes, the overwhelming conclusion is that both head and thoracic horns develop similarly in Trypoxylus and Onthophagus, originating in the same developmental regions and deploying similar portions of appendage patterning networks during their growth. Our findings highlight deep parallels in the development of rhinoceros and dung beetle horns, suggesting either that both horn types arose in the common ancestor of all scarabs, a surprising reconstruction of horn evolution that would mean the majority of scarab species (~35,000) actively repress horn growth, or that parallel origins of these extravagant structures resulted from repeated co-option of the same underlying developmental processes.

Beetles are the largest insect order and one of the most successful animal groups in terms of number of species. The Japanese rhinoceros beetle Trypoxylus dichotomus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Dynastini) is a giant beetle with distinctive exaggerated horns present on the head and prothoracic regions of the male. T. dichotomus has been used as 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 10x 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. The detailed genomic and transcriptomic information of T. dichotomus is the most comprehensive among those reported for any species of Dynastinae. 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.

The 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.