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Transcriptome analysis of the endangered dung beetle Copris tripartitus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and characterization of genes associated to immunity, growth, and reproduction

Authors :
Hee Ju Hwang
Bharat Bhusan Patnaik
Snigdha Baliarsingh
Hongray Howrelia Patnaik
Min Kyu Sang
Jie eun Park
Hang Chul Cho
Dae Kwon Song
Jun Yang Jeong
Chan Eui Hong
Yong Tae Kim
Hyeon Jun Sin
Liu Ziwei
So Young Park
Se Won Kang
Heon Cheon Jeong
Hong Seog Park
Yeon Soo Han
Yong Seok Lee
Source :
BMC Genomics. 24
Publication Year :
2023
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2023.

Abstract

Background Dung beetles recycle organic matter through the decomposition of feces and support ecological balance. However, these insects are threatened by the indiscriminate use of agrochemicals and habitat destruction. Copris tripartitus Waterhouse (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), a dung beetle, is listed as a class-II Korean endangered species. Although the genetic diversity of C. tripartitus populations has been investigated through analysis of mitochondrial genes, genomic resources for this species remain limited. In this study, we analyzed the transcriptome of C. tripartitus to elucidate functions related to growth, immunity and reproduction for the purpose of informed conservation planning. Results The transcriptome of C. tripartitus was generated using next-generation Illumina sequencing and assembled de novo using a Trinity-based platform. In total, 98.59% of the raw sequence reads were processed as clean reads. These reads were assembled into 151,177 contigs, 101,352 transcripts, and 25,106 unigenes. A total of 23,450 unigenes (93.40%) were annotated to at least one database. The largest proportion of unigenes (92.76%) were annotated to the locally curated PANM-DB. A maximum of 5,512 unigenes had homologous sequences in Tribolium castaneum. Gene Ontology (GO) analysis revealed a maximum of 5,174 unigenes in the Molecular function category. Further, in Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis, a total of 462 enzymes were associated with established biological pathways. Based on sequence homology to known proteins in PANM-DB, representative immunity, growth, and reproduction-related genes were screened. Potential immunity-related genes were categorized into pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), the Toll-like receptor signaling pathway, the MyD88- dependent pathway, endogenous ligands, immune effectors, antimicrobial peptides, apoptosis, and adaptation-related transcripts. Among PRRs, we conducted detailed in silico characterization of TLR-2, CTL, and PGRP_SC2-like. Repetitive elements such as long terminal repeats, short interspersed nuclear elements, long interspersed nuclear elements and DNA elements were enriched in the unigene sequences. A total of 1,493 SSRs were identified among all unigenes of C. tripartitus. Conclusions This study provides a comprehensive resource for analysis of the genomic topography of the beetle C. tripartitus. The data presented here clarify the fitness phenotypes of this species in the wild and provide insight to support informed conservation planning.

Subjects

Subjects :
Genetics
Biotechnology

Details

ISSN :
14712164
Volume :
24
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
BMC Genomics
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........ccccdce225682a297b8a42f0b18476f9
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-023-09122-w