Improved reference genome of the arboviral vector Aedes albopictus

Date
2020-08-26Author
Palatini, Umberto
Masri, Reem A.
Cosme, Luciano V.
Koren, Sergey
Thibaud-Nissen, Françoise
Biedler, James K.
Krsticevic, Flavia
Johnston, J. Spencer
Halbach, Rebecca
Crawford, Jacob E.
Antoshechkin, Igor
Failloux, Anna-Bella
Pischedda, Elisa
Marconcini, Michele
Ghurye, Jay
Rhie, Arang
Sharma, Atashi
Karagodin, Dmitriy A.
Jenrette, Jeremy
Gamez, Stephanie
Miesen, Pascal
Masterson, Patrick
Caccone, Adalgisa
Sharakhova, Maria V.
Tu, Zhijian Jake
Papathanos, Philippos A.
Van Rij, Ronald P.
Akbari, Omar S.
Powell, Jeffrey R.
Phillippy, Adam M.
Bonizzoni, Mariangela
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Background
The Asian tiger mosquito Aedes albopictus is globally expanding and has become the main vector for human arboviruses in Europe. With limited antiviral drugs and vaccines available, vector control is the primary approach to prevent mosquito-borne diseases. A reliable and accurate DNA sequence of the Ae. albopictus genome is essential to develop new approaches that involve genetic manipulation of mosquitoes.
Results
We use long-read sequencing methods and modern scaffolding techniques (PacBio, 10X, and Hi-C) to produce AalbF2, a dramatically improved assembly of the Ae. albopictus genome. AalbF2 reveals widespread viral insertions, novel microRNAs and piRNA clusters, the sex-determining locus, and new immunity genes, and enables genome-wide studies of geographically diverse Ae. albopictus populations and analyses of the developmental and stage-dependent network of expression data. Additionally, we build the first physical map for this species with 75% of the assembled genome anchored to the chromosomes.
Conclusions
The AalbF2 genome assembly represents the most up-to-date collective knowledge of the Ae. albopictus genome. These resources represent a foundation to improve understanding of the adaptation potential and the epidemiological relevance of this species and foster the development of innovative control measures.