2022 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
Elucidation of the mutation rate as driver of insect endosymbiont genome evolution
| Project/Area Number |
21H02541
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| Research Institution | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University |
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Principal Investigator |
ブギーニョン トマ 沖縄科学技術大学院大学, 進化ゲノミクスユニット, 准教授 (40817558)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
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| Keywords | GC-content / endosymbiont / genome evolution |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
In this project, we aim to study the evolution of Blattabacterium genomes. We planned to sequence many Blattabacterium genomes for that purpose. We have sequenced 448 Blattabacterium genomes. While some of them were not assembled in a single contig, over 250 were. For those that were not sequenced in a single contig, we are planning extra sequencing during FY2023. All the full genomes we obtained have been annotated, and we are in the process of analyzing them.
I have published two scientific papers for this project. One paper was published in Molecular Biology and Evolution (IF: 16.2), and one paper was published in Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (IF: 4.3). The references of these paper are as follow: Kinjo Y.*, Lo N.* (*equal first authors), Villa-Martin P., Tokuda G., Pigolotti S. & Bourguignon T. (2021) Enhanced mutation rate, relaxed selection, and the ‘domino effect’ are associated with gene loss in Blattabacterium, a cockroach endosymbiont. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 38, 3820-3831. Che Y., Deng W., Li W., Zhang J., Kinjo Y., Tokuda G., Bourguignon T., Lo N. & Wang Z. (2022). Vicariance and dispersal events inferred from mitochondrial genomes and nuclear genes (18S, 28S) shaped global Cryptocercus distributions. Molecular Phylogenetic and Evolution 166, 107318. The achievements are as originally planned.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project is progressing as initially planned. I originally planned to sequence 250 Blattabacterium genomes over the course of FY2021-2023. We have already sequenced 448 Blattabacterium genomes, more than 250 of which were assembled in a single contig. These 250 genomes were also annotated. Therefore, the sequencing part of my project progressed faster than planned. We are in the progress of analyzing these genomes. We already published two scientific papers and are in the process of writing three additional papers that will be published during the next two years.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I was planning to sequence about 250 new Blattabacterium genomes for this project. Most of these genomes have been sequenced. During FY2023, I will sequence the last remaining genomes that were not sequenced appropriately previously. These genomes will allow us to explore the relationship between gene loss, dN, dS, dN/dS, and GC-content. We already started determining the relationship between gene loss, dN, dS, dN/dS, and GC-content. We will explore these relationships during FY2023. I expect we will have carried out most of the data analyses and will be in the process of writing a scientific paper by the end of FY2023. The papers will be published during FY2023 and the following year. I will participate in conferences to present the results of the research carried out in this project. I expect to write two papers that will be submitted during FY23.
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