A linkage-based genome assembly for the mosquito Aedes albopictus and identification of chromosomal regions affecting diapause

dc.contributor.affiliationGeorgetown University-Armbruster, Peter
dc.contributor.authorArmbruster, Peter
dc.date.accessioned2025-04-29T14:04:12Z
dc.date.issued2021-02-10
dc.date.issued2021-02-10
dc.descriptionThe Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, is an invasive vector mosquito of substantial public health concern. The large genome size (~1.19-1.28 Gb by cytofluorometric estimates), comprised of ~68% repetitive DNA sequences, has made it difficult to produce a high-quality genome assembly for this species. We constructed a high-density linkage map for Ae. albopictus based on 111,328 informative SNPs obtained by RNAseq. We then performed a linkage-map anchored reassembly of AalbF2, the genome assembly produced by Palatini et al. (2020). Our re-assembled genome sequence, AalbF3, represents several improvements relative to AalbF2.  First, the size of the AalbF3 assembly is 1.45 Gb, almost half the size of AalbF2. Furthermore, relative to AalbF2, AalbF3 contains a higher proportion of complete and single-copy BUSCO genes (84.3%) and a higher proportion of aligned RNAseq reads that map concordantly to a single location of the genome (46%). We demonstrate the utility of AalbF3 by using it as reference for a bulk segregant-based comparative genomics analysis which identifies chromosomal regions with clusters of candidate SNPs putatively associated with photoperiodic diapause, a crucial ecological adaptation underpinning the rapid range expansion and climatic adaptation of Ae. albopictus.
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mgqnk98z4
dc.identifier.urihttps://datakatalogi.helsinki.fi/handle/123456789/5691
dc.rights.licensecc-zero
dc.subjectAedes albopictus
dc.subjectAedes aegypti
dc.subjectlinkage analysis
dc.subjectmosquito genome
dc.titleA linkage-based genome assembly for the mosquito Aedes albopictus and identification of chromosomal regions affecting diapause
dc.typedataset