Highly Contiguous Genome Assemblies of the Guinea Paper Wasp (Polistes exclamans) and Mischocyttarus mexicanus

Sara Miller; Andrew W. Legan; Floria M K Uy; Michael J Sheehan

doi:10.1093/gbe/evac110

Highly Contiguous Genome Assemblies of the Guinea Paper Wasp (Polistes exclamans) and Mischocyttarus mexicanus

Sara Miller, Andrew W. Legan, Floria M K Uy, Michael J Sheehan

University of Missouri-St. Louis

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

<div class="line" id="line-5"> Paper wasps are a model system for the study of social evolution due to a high degree of inter- and intraspecific variation in cooperation, aggression, and visual signals of social status. Increasing the taxonomic coverage of genomic resources for this diverse clade will aid comparative genomic approaches for testing predictions about the molecular basis of social evolution. Here, we provide draft genome assemblies for two well-studied species of paper wasps,  Polistes exclamans  and  Mischocyttarus mexicanus . The  P. exclamans  genome assembly is 221.5&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 4.11&emsp14;Mb. The  M. mexicanus  genome assembly is 227&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 1.1&emsp14;Mb. Genomes have low repeat content (9.54–10.75%) and low GC content (32.06–32.4%), typical of other social hymenopteran genomes. The DNA methyltransferase gene,  Dnmt3  , was lost early in the evolution of Polistinae. We identified a second independent loss of  Dnmt3  within hornets (genus:  Vespa ). </div>

Original language	American English
Journal	Genome Biology and Evolution
Volume	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evac110
State	Published - Aug 2022

Keywords

Dnmt3
animal signaling
eusociality
paper wasp
social evolution

Disciplines

Biology

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Cite this

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title = "Highly Contiguous Genome Assemblies of the Guinea Paper Wasp (Polistes exclamans) and Mischocyttarus mexicanus",

abstract = " Paper wasps are a model system for the study of social evolution due to a high degree of inter- and intraspecific variation in cooperation, aggression, and visual signals of social status. Increasing the taxonomic coverage of genomic resources for this diverse clade will aid comparative genomic approaches for testing predictions about the molecular basis of social evolution. Here, we provide draft genome assemblies for two well-studied species of paper wasps,  Polistes exclamans  and  Mischocyttarus mexicanus . The  P. exclamans  genome assembly is 221.5&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 4.11&emsp14;Mb. The  M. mexicanus  genome assembly is 227&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 1.1&emsp14;Mb. Genomes have low repeat content (9.54–10.75%) and low GC content (32.06–32.4%), typical of other social hymenopteran genomes. The DNA methyltransferase gene,  Dnmt3  , was lost early in the evolution of Polistinae. We identified a second independent loss of  Dnmt3  within hornets (genus:  Vespa ). ",

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author = "Sara Miller and Legan, {Andrew W.} and Uy, {Floria M K} and Sheehan, {Michael J}",

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doi = "10.1093/gbe/evac110",

language = "American English",

volume = "14",

journal = "Genome Biology and Evolution",

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AU - Uy, Floria M K

AU - Sheehan, Michael J

PY - 2022/8

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N2 - Paper wasps are a model system for the study of social evolution due to a high degree of inter- and intraspecific variation in cooperation, aggression, and visual signals of social status. Increasing the taxonomic coverage of genomic resources for this diverse clade will aid comparative genomic approaches for testing predictions about the molecular basis of social evolution. Here, we provide draft genome assemblies for two well-studied species of paper wasps,  Polistes exclamans  and  Mischocyttarus mexicanus . The  P. exclamans  genome assembly is 221.5&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 4.11&emsp14;Mb. The  M. mexicanus  genome assembly is 227&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 1.1&emsp14;Mb. Genomes have low repeat content (9.54–10.75%) and low GC content (32.06–32.4%), typical of other social hymenopteran genomes. The DNA methyltransferase gene,  Dnmt3  , was lost early in the evolution of Polistinae. We identified a second independent loss of  Dnmt3  within hornets (genus:  Vespa ).

AB - Paper wasps are a model system for the study of social evolution due to a high degree of inter- and intraspecific variation in cooperation, aggression, and visual signals of social status. Increasing the taxonomic coverage of genomic resources for this diverse clade will aid comparative genomic approaches for testing predictions about the molecular basis of social evolution. Here, we provide draft genome assemblies for two well-studied species of paper wasps,  Polistes exclamans  and  Mischocyttarus mexicanus . The  P. exclamans  genome assembly is 221.5&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 4.11&emsp14;Mb. The  M. mexicanus  genome assembly is 227&emsp14;Mb in length with a scaffold N50 of 1.1&emsp14;Mb. Genomes have low repeat content (9.54–10.75%) and low GC content (32.06–32.4%), typical of other social hymenopteran genomes. The DNA methyltransferase gene,  Dnmt3  , was lost early in the evolution of Polistinae. We identified a second independent loss of  Dnmt3  within hornets (genus:  Vespa ).

KW - Dnmt3

KW - animal signaling

KW - eusociality

KW - paper wasp

KW - social evolution

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DO - 10.1093/gbe/evac110

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