De Novo Genome Assembly of the Invasive Mosquito Species Aedes Japonicus and Aedes Koreicus

Overview

Journal Parasit Vectors

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Parasitology
Tropical Medicine

Date 2023 Nov 21

PMID 37986088

Authors

Paolo L Catapano

Monica Falcinelli

Claudia Damiani

Alessia Cappelli

Despoina Koukouli

Paolo Rossi

Irene Ricci

Valerio Napolioni

Guido Favia

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Recently, two invasive Aedes mosquito species, Ae. japonicus and Ae. koreicus, are circulating in several European countries posing potential health risks to humans and animals. Vector control is the main option to prevent mosquito-borne diseases, and an accurate genome sequence of these mosquitoes is essential to better understand their biology and to develop effective control strategies.

Methods: A de novo genome assembly of Ae. japonicus (Ajap1) and Ae. koreicus (Akor1) has been produced based on a hybrid approach that combines Oxford Nanopore long-read and Illumina short-read data. Their quality was ascertained using various metrics. Masking of repetitive elements, gene prediction and functional annotation was performed.

Results: Sequence analysis revealed a very high presence of repetitive DNA and, among others, thermal adaptation genes and insecticide-resistance genes. Through the RNA-seq analysis of larvae and adults of Ae. koreicus and Ae. japonicus exposed to different temperatures, we also identified genes showing a differential temperature-dependent activation.

Conclusions: The assembly of Akor1 and Ajap1 genomes constitutes the first updated collective knowledge of the genomes of both mosquito species, providing the possibility of understanding key mechanisms of their biology such as the ability to adapt to harsh climates and to develop insecticide-resistance mechanisms.

Citing Articles

From macro to micro: De novo genomes of Aedes mosquitoes enable comparative genomics among close and distant relatives.

Morinaga G, Balcazar D, Badolo A, Iyaloo D, Tantely L, Mouillaud T bioRxiv. 2025; .

PMID: 39868221 PMC: 11760778. DOI: 10.1101/2025.01.13.632753.

Conserved and novel enhancers in the Aedes aegypti single-minded locus recapitulate embryonic ventral midline gene expression.

Schember I, Reid W, Sterling-Lentsch G, Halfon M PLoS Genet. 2024; 20(4):e1010891.

PMID: 38683842 PMC: 11081499. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1010891.

The updated genome of the Hungarian population of Aedes koreicus.

Nagy N, Toth G, Kurucz K, Kemenesi G, Laczko L Sci Rep. 2024; 14(1):7545.

PMID: 38555322 PMC: 10981705. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-58096-6.

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