Genome streamlining in a minute herbivore that manipulates its host plant
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: is among the smallest animals on earth. It is a worldwide pest on tomato and can potently suppress the host's natural resistance. We sequenced its genome, the first of an eriophyoid, and explored whether there are genomic features associated with the mite's minute size and lifestyle. At only 32.5 Mb, the genome is the smallest yet reported for any arthropod and, reminiscent of microbial eukaryotes, exceptionally streamlined. It has few transposable elements, tiny intergenic regions, and is remarkably intron-poor, as more than 80% of coding genes are intronless. Furthermore, in accordance with ecological specialization theory, this defense-suppressing herbivore has extremely reduced environmental response gene families such as those involved in chemoreception and detoxification. Other losses associate with this species' highly derived body plan. Our findings accelerate the understanding of evolutionary forces underpinning metazoan life at the limits of small physical and genome size.
Source: eLife
DOI: 10.7554/elife.56689
Language: English
Topic: Study of Mite Species
Domain: Life Sciences
SDG: Zero hunger
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,500
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, European Commission, Universiteit van Amsterdam, Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, Vlaamse regering, National Institutes of Health, Agricultural Research Service, Horizon 2020, National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Awards: Innovative tools for rational control of the most difficult-to-manage pests (super pests) and the diseases they transmit, Identification and characterization of salivary effectors in Tetranychus urticae: understanding host plant manipulation in search of novel crop protection tools., G2169170125, G2691296230, Evolutionary genetics of a cosmopolitan generalist herbivore, G434337789, G461533972, Training Program in Genetics, G5069562455, G6226940816, G8690300259
OpenAlex ID: W3094601547