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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Stoneville, Mississippi » Southern Insect Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #387888

Research Project: Insect Control and Resistance Management in Corn, Cotton, Sorghum, Soybean, and Sweet Potato, and Alternative Approaches to Tarnished Plant Bug Control in the Southern United States

Location: Southern Insect Management Research

Title: Chromosome length genome assembly of the redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood)

Author
item SAHA, SURYA - BOYCE THOMPSON INSTITUTE
item Allen, Clint
item MUELLER, LUKAS - BOYCE THOMPSON INSTITUTE
item Reddy, Gadi V.P.
item Perera, Omaththage

Submitted to: BMC Research Notes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/26/2022
Publication Date: 3/22/2022
Citation: Saha, S., Allen, K.C., Mueller, L., Reddy, G.V., Perera, O.P. 2022. Chromosome length genome assembly of the redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Westwood). BMC Research Notes. 15:115:1-5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-022-05924-5.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-022-05924-5

Interpretive Summary: The red-banded stink bug (RBSB), Piezodorus guildinii, is native to Caribbean Basin and is currently considered an invasive pest of agricultural crops in southern states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in the United States. Although RBSB is an economically important invasive pest that has developed resistance to some insecticides in the USA, a relatively little is known about the genetics of this insect. In order to develop genetic resources to conduct genetic studies to understand mechanisms of resistance to insecticides, population structure, and physiology, a chromosome-length assembly of the RBSB genome was obtained. This genome assembly will be used to identify genetic loci and gene networks associated with insecticide resistance and to develop genetic markers to conduct population genetic and genome-wide association studies.

Technical Abstract: Objective: The redbanded stink bug, Piezodorus guildinii (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae), is native to Caribbean Basin and is currently considered an invasive pest in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas in the southern United States. Although P. guildinii is an economically important invasive pest in the USA, a relatively few studies have been conducted to understand genetic, population genetic structure, and genetic basis of resistance to insecticides. The objective of this work was to obtain a high-quality genome assembly to develop genetic resources to conduct genetic, population genetic, and physiological studies of the RBSB. Results: The genome of RBSB was sequenced with Pacific Biosciences technology followed by two rounds of scaffolding using Chicago libraries and HiC proximity ligation to obtain a high-quality assembly. The genome assembly contained 800 scaffolds larger than 1 kbp and the N50 was 170.84 Mbp. The largest scaffold was 222.22 Mbp and 90% of the genome was included in the 7 scaffolds larger than 1 Mbp. The number of megabase scaffolds also matched the number of chromosomes in this insect. The genome sequence will facilitate the development of resources to conduct studies on genetics, transcriptomics, and physiology of RBSB.