Parmar Drashti R, Johnston Nikolas P, Wallman James F, Szpila Krzysztof
Department of Ecology and Biogeography, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland.
School of Chemistry and Molecular Bioscience, and Molecular Horizons, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia.
Curr Opin Insect Sci. 2025 Apr;68:101305. doi: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101305. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
Blowflies (Calliphoridae) form a diverse, species-rich group, yet publicly available genome assemblies are limited to only 16 species, despite recent genomic advances. This knowledge gap extends to mitogenomes and barcode databases, which mainly focus on medically and veterinary-important species. While blowfly phylogenetics has progressed, additional genome sequencing is crucial for various subfamilies, given their diverse life histories. This review presents a quantitative overview of available genetic information for blowflies, highlighting substantial gaps in public databases. DNA barcodes, mitogenomes, and genomes represent only 16.5% (342 species), ∼3% (53 species), and <1% (16 species) of known family diversity, respectively. While 183 genomics-related calliphorid BioProjects are recorded by NCBI, many subfamilies and genera have limited or no genomic representation, impacting studies on identification, systematics, phylogenetics, and evolution. We stress the urgent need for high-quality reference genomes and highlight target species representing all blowfly subfamilies to support a new era of rapid, low-cost genomic research.
丽蝇（丽蝇科）构成了一个多样且物种丰富的类群，然而尽管近期基因组学取得了进展，但公开可用的基因组组装仅限于16个物种。这种知识空白延伸到了线粒体基因组和条形码数据库，它们主要关注对医学和兽医领域重要的物种。虽然丽蝇系统发育学已经取得了进展，但鉴于各亚科不同的生活史，额外的基因组测序对于它们来说至关重要。本综述对丽蝇可用的遗传信息进行了定量概述，突出了公共数据库中的重大空白。DNA条形码、线粒体基因组和基因组分别仅占已知科多样性的16.5%（342种）、约3%（53种）和不到1%（16种）。虽然NCBI记录了183个与基因组学相关的丽蝇生物项目，但许多亚科和属的基因组代表性有限或没有，这影响了对鉴定、系统学、系统发育学和进化的研究。我们强调迫切需要高质量的参考基因组，并突出代表所有丽蝇亚科的目标物种，以支持快速、低成本基因组研究的新时代。
