Shi Rangjun, Duan Pan, Zhu Mengmeng, Zhang Rong, Zhao Zihua, Nie Xin, He Hanhou, Hou Li, Wang Xianhui
State Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Pest Insects and Rodents, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100080, China.
CAS Center for Excellence in Biotic Interactions, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
Adv Sci (Weinh). 2025 Jun;12(23):e2417054. doi: 10.1002/advs.202417054. Epub 2025 Mar 26.
The leafcutter bee Megachile rotundata is the world's most intensively managed solitary bee, owing to its easy manipulation and high pollination efficacy. Here, a high-quality chromosome-level M. rotundata genome, covering 280.68 Mb is presented. A total of 10 701 genes are predicted, of which 93.06% are functionally annotated. Based on the new genome assembly, transposable elements, noncoding RNAs, as well as gene families associated with pollination biology and ecological adaptation are systematically characterized. Comparative genomic analysis shows a notable expansion of Toll gene family but the contraction of detoxification gene in M. rotundata genome. Surprisingly, these expanded Toll-1 genes and their downstream genes display abundant mRNA levels in diapausing prepupae. Additionally, diapausing prepupae show significantly upregulated expression of antimicrobial peptide genes and a higher survival rate after Escherichia coli exposure compared to nondiapausing prepupae, indicating an enhanced immune response during M. rotundata diapause. The M. rotundata genome provides an important foundation for understanding its ecological adaptation and optimizing its exceptional pollination efficiency in the future.
由于易于操控且授粉效率高，切叶蜂（Megachile rotundata）是世界上管理最为密集的独居蜂。在此，我们展示了一个高质量的切叶蜂染色体水平基因组，其大小为280.68 Mb。共预测出10701个基因，其中93.06%具有功能注释。基于新的基因组组装，对转座元件、非编码RNA以及与授粉生物学和生态适应相关的基因家族进行了系统表征。比较基因组分析表明，切叶蜂基因组中Toll基因家族显著扩张，但解毒基因收缩。令人惊讶的是，这些扩张的Toll-1基因及其下游基因在滞育预蛹中呈现出丰富的mRNA水平。此外，与非滞育预蛹相比，滞育预蛹中抗菌肽基因的表达显著上调，且在暴露于大肠杆菌后存活率更高，这表明切叶蜂滞育期间免疫反应增强。切叶蜂基因组为理解其生态适应以及未来优化其卓越的授粉效率提供了重要基础。
