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Title: Transcriptome profiling with focus on potential key genes for wing development and evolution in Megaloprepus caerulatus, the damselfly species with the world´s largest wings

Author
item FEINDT, WIEBKE - Hochschule Geisenheim University
item OPPENHEIM, SARA - American Museum Of Natural History
item Goldstein, Paul
item DESALLE, ROB - American Museum Of Natural History
item HARDRYS, HEIKE - Yale University

Submitted to: PLOS ONE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/5/2017
Publication Date: 1/12/2018
Citation: Feindt, W., Oppenheim, S., Goldstein, P.Z., Desalle, R., Hardrys, H. 2018. Transcriptome profiling with focus on potential key genes for wing development and evolution in Megaloprepus caerulatus, the damselfly species with the world´s largest wings. PLoS One. 13(1):17.

Interpretive Summary: This paper presents an important novel assembly of an insect transcriptome (the damselfy Megaloprepus caerulatus), describes an intensive series of steps used in annotating the compiled data, and lays the foundation for comparative studies focused on identifying genes involved with flight, mate choice, and general morphology.

Technical Abstract: The arrival of the term Eco-Evo-Devo highlights the need to incorporate ecology and development into modern evolutionary research to better understand processes such as adaptation and speciation as well as the effect of environmental changes a species. As basal winged insects (pterygotes), dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are key species in evolutionary research but genomic data are sparse, and species- and/or tissue wide genomic information in essential for such research. A particular position owns As a highly adapted and sensitive tree hole breeder, the Neotropical damselfly Megaloprepus caerulatus (Odonata: Zygoptera: Pseudostigmatidae) is unique in several respects. The idea that speciation in this group has been accompanied by significant morphological differences in wing shape raises questions about the precise underlying mechanisms involved and the degree to which they are influenced by the environment. Here we present an intensive transcriptome profiling of M. caerulatus using RNA-seq. The transcriptome was assembled, annotated and compared to three other odonate species, altogether representing a backbone for future studies in odonates and insects in general