Live-bearing cockroach genome reveals convergent evolutionary mechanisms linked to viviparity in insects and beyond

Bertrand Fouks, Mark C Harrison, Alina A Mikhailova, Elisabeth Marchal, Sinead English, Madeleine Carruthers, Emily C Jennings, Ezemuoka L Chiamaka, Ronja A Frigard, Martin Pippel, Geoffrey M. Attardo, Joshua B. Benoit, Erich Bornberg‐Bauer, Stephen S. Tobe

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Live birth (viviparity) has arisen repeatedly and independently among animals. We sequenced the genome and transcriptome of the viviparous Pacific beetle-mimic cockroach and performed comparative analyses with two other viviparous insect lineages, tsetse flies and aphids, to unravel the basis underlying the transition to viviparity in insects. We identified pathways undergoing adaptive evolution for insects, involved in urogenital remodeling, tracheal system, heart development, and nutrient metabolism. Transcriptomic analysis of cockroach and tsetse flies revealed that uterine remodeling and nutrient production are increased and the immune response is altered during pregnancy, facilitating structural and physiological changes to accommodate and nourish the progeny. These patterns of convergent evolution of viviparity among insects, together with similar adaptive mechanisms identified among vertebrates, highlight that the transition to viviparity requires changes in urogenital remodeling, enhanced tracheal and heart development (corresponding to angiogenesis in vertebrates), altered nutrient metabolism, and shifted immunity in animal systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number107832
Number of pages18
JournaliScience
Volume26
Issue number10
Early online date9 Sept 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 20 Oct 2023
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Funder

This work was supported by a Discovery grant, no. 9408-08 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to S.S.T, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AI148551 and National Science Foundation DEB1654417 (to J.B.B. for shared computational resources), B.F. was supported by an EU-H2020 MSCA-IF-2020 fellowship (101024100, TEEPI), M.C.H. was supported by a DFG grant BO2544/11-2 to E.B.B, A.M. was supported by a DFG grant HA8997/1-1 to M.C.H. and S.E. was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (DH140236).

Funding

This work was supported by a Discovery grant, no. 9408-08 from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to S.S.T, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AI148551 and National Science Foundation DEB1654417 (to J.B.B. for shared computational resources), B.F. was supported by an EU-H2020 MSCA-IF-2020 fellowship (101024100, TEEPI), M.C.H. was supported by a DFG grant BO2544/11-2 to E.B.B, A.M. was supported by a DFG grant HA8997/1-1 to M.C.H. and S.E. was supported by a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (DH140236).

FundersFunder number
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada9408-08
National Institutes of HealthR01AI148551
National Science FoundationDEB1654417
European Horizon 2020101024100
Deutsche ForschungsgemeinschaftBO2544/11-2, HA8997/1-1
The Royal SocietyDH140236

    Keywords

    • Genomics
    • Evolutionary developmental biology
    • Transcriptomics

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