Genome assembly of Luehdorfia taibai, an endangered butterfly endemic to Qinling Moutains in China with extremely small populations

Abstract

Conservation genomic resources over the past decade has drastically improved, since genomes can be used to predict diverse parameters vital to conservation management. Luehdorfia taibai is an endemic butterfly only found in restricted aeras in middle-west China and is critically endangered. It was classfied as a vunerlable (VN) species in the “China species red list.” Here we generated 34.38 Gb of raw DNA sequencing reads and obtained a high-qualified draft genome assembly of L. taibai. The final genome is ~683.3 Mb, with contig N50 size of 10.19 Mb. Further, 98.6% of single-copy orthologous genes have been recovered by BUSCO. An estimated 42.34% of the genome of L. taibai consists of repetitive elements. Combined with gene prediction and transcriptome sequencing, genome annotation produced 15,968 protein-coding genes. Additionally, a nearly 1:1 orthology ratio of syntenic blocks between L. taibai and its closest genome Luehdorfia chinensis suggested that the genome structures have not changed much after speciation. The genome of L. taibai have not undergone a whole genome duplication event. Population dynamics analyses indicates that L. taibai has an extremely low heterozygosity of 0.057%, and its population size has declined dramatically over the past 10 thousand years. Our study describes a draft genome assembly of the L. taibai, the first implication of this species. We consider the globally overexploited of the host plants is not the main reason to threaten L. taibai. The genome will provide advice for the conservation to the economically important Luehdorfia lineage and this specific species.

Transcriptome‐derived molecular resources for the conservation of threatened butterflies in Korea

“…2021) and Luehdorfia taibai , an endangered butterfly endemic to China (Guan et al . 2022). Therefore, the TSI of Korea has provided clues for improved adaptive management plans to understand the complexities in preserving the genetic diversity of threatened butterfly species in Korea.…”

“…Most other genome‐guided butterfly conservation initiatives extracted the DNA/RNA from mostly larval or adult individuals (Guan et al . 2022; Podsiadlowski et al . 2021).…”

“…To support an effective conservation strategy for L. taibai , a high‐quality genome assembly was made available that guided Illumina‐based transcriptome assembly, suggesting low heterozygosity and vulnerability to climate change (Guan et al . 2022). Reference genomes have been made available for some of the world's dynamic butterfly species, and this could mobilize transcriptomics studies to understand the fitness phenotypes relevant for maintaining a successful population structure (Reboud et al .…”