A chromosome level genome assembly of Propsilocerus akamusi to understand its response to heavy metal exposure

Abstract

The responses of aquatic insects affected by diverse chemical pollutants are of increasing concern worldwide. Especially in urban streams, a wide range of contaminants pose potential risks to the health of macroinvertebrates contributing to population decline or phenotypic variations (Arambourou et al., 2019). Therefore, the toxicological effects of insects in aquatic ecosystems are worth studying to evaluate the effects of pollutants. Among benthic communities, the larvae of Chironomidae are the most abundant and ubiquitous species of sediment-dwelling fauna in freshwater ecosystems (Andersen et al., 2013). Due to their wide distribution and short lifespans, the ease of the identification of their different stages, and their high sensitivity to toxicants, these non-biting midges are widely used for studying the impact of environmental pollutants in aquatic systems (Anderson, 1997;OECD, 2010).

Chromosome-level genome assembly of Chironomus striatipennis Kieffer provides insights into benthic adaptation and metamorphosis mechanism

“…striatipennis is the first species with chromosome-level genome assembly in genus Chironomus . The genome size of C. striatipennis is similar to other species in the genusChironomus (C. riparius, C.tentans, C. tepperi(236 Mb)), but it is much larger than that of species in subfamily Orthocladiinae (C. marinus , Belgica antarctica (99 Mb) and P. akamusi ) and in genus Polypedilum ( P. vanderplanki ,P. pembai (122 Mb)) (Tab.1) (Kaiser et al, 2016;Kelley et al, 2014;Sun et al, 2021). The above results are also consistent with those of Cronette et al (2015).…”

“…striatipennis has many special repeats sequence. The content of long terminal repeated (LTR) predicted by de novo makes up 21.14% of the repeat sequences of C. striatipennis (Supplementary Table 10-11) (Cornette et al, 2017;Kaiser et al, 2016;Kelley et al, 2014;Kutsenko et al, 2014;Shaikhutdinov & Gusev, 2022;Sun et al, 2021;Vicoso & Bachtrog, 2015).…”

“…These findings suggest that the expanded and contracted gene families may be closely related to the adaptive evolution in C. striatipennis. It is similar to Belgica antarctica and P. akamusi , that they can resist the adverse environment by expanded heat shock proteins (HSPs) (Sun, X et al, 2021;Kozeretska, I et al, 2022). Chironomid midge with same life history asC.…”

“…In the last decade, with the popularization and application of highthroughput sequencing technology, the genomes of more species have been released. However, in family chironomidae (Diptera, Insecta), the genomes of only 8 species have been sequenced and assembled (Cornette et al, 2016;Kelley et al, 2014;Kutsenko et al, 2014;Sun et al, 2021;Vicoso & Bachtrog, 2015). In previous researches, the genusChironomus has only scaffold level assembled genome (ncbi), the precision and accuracy of its genome may not rest content with the increasingly high standard of experimental research.…”

Editorial 2022

“…Important genomic resources include “A chromosome level genome assembly of Propsilocerus akamusi to understand its response to heavy metal exposure” (Sun et al, 2021). This assembly was notable as the authors not only provided a robust genome for an important and widespread indicator species, they also experimentally demonstrated that increased exposure to copper led to an expansion of haemoglobin (Hb) genes in these midges.…”