Draft genome from facultatively parthenogenetic Opiliones indicates frequent mitonuclear sequence transfer and novel full-length insertions

Draft genome from facultatively parthenogenetic Opiliones indicates frequent mitonuclear sequence transfer and novel full-length insertions | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Draft genome from facultatively parthenogenetic Opiliones indicates frequent mitonuclear sequence transfer and novel full-length insertions Sarah Stellwagen, Mercedes Burns This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3846124/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: Facultative parthenogenesis and intra-population mixed ploidy are rare in animals. These unique characteristics allow opportunities to investigate the relationship between sexual modality and ploidy. We have completed a draft genome of the Japanese harvester ("daddy-longlegs") Leiobunum manubriatum, a species which reproduces sexually and asexually, and with mixed diploid and tetraploid populations in some areas. Results: We combined Oxford Nanopore’s MinION long-read sequencing platform with Dovetail Hi-C scaffolding to assemble the haploid genome for the diploid race, which is approximately 336 MBp after collapsing heterozygous sequence. The assembly’s completeness was measured using BUSCOs from Eukaryota (complete: 92.6%), Arthropoda (complete: 96.9%), and Arachnida (complete: 95.3%). We searched raw sequence reads and the draft genome for nuclear mitochondrial DNA (numt) sequences. While only one complete mitochondrial genomic transfer was found in the draft genome, there are at least 12 complete numts across 9 reads within the raw sequencing data that were lost during the assembly process. Conclusions: The genome of the L. manubriatum diploid race is an invaluable resource not only for opilionid research, but also for facilitating studies investigating the evolution of their unique reproductive mode and mixed ploidy. To our knowledge, this is the first published genome of a wild-derived facultative parthenogen. Future work will leverage this resource in comparative genomics and transcriptomics of L. manubriatum to understand the connection between ploidy and sexual strategy. genome assembly Opiliones polyploidy long-read sequencing facultative parthenogenesis Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3846124","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":266292300,"identity":"3e619acf-be73-4cd1-813c-aecd53a9500e","order_by":0,"name":"Sarah Stellwagen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of North Carolina at Charlotte","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sarah","middleName":"","lastName":"Stellwagen","suffix":""},{"id":266292301,"identity":"29f7c974-23d8-4354-9fc7-f11318a503db","order_by":1,"name":"Mercedes Burns","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAoElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAwhlw8AgAaLZiNeSRrqWwyRoMZfIffbwZ875xLWzmx8wfCg7TFiL5Yx0c2PebbcTt905ZsA44xwRWgxupLFJM4K03MhhYOZtI1KL5M9t5yBa/hKrRYJ32wGIFkZitFj2PGOT5t2WbAzyy8Gec+mEtZizgx1mJ7vtdvPDBz/KrAlrQQEHSFQ/CkbBKBgFowAXAADfkzwDW5uLNgAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Maryland, Baltimore County","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mercedes","middleName":"","lastName":"Burns","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-08 18:44:07","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3846124/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3846124/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":57285857,"identity":"4d4615af-a81a-4d13-812a-90bc4e5b3710","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-05-28 16:14:47","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":9066586,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"LmanuPaper2024.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3846124/v1_covered_751df4aa-6102-4eda-bd22-0753510ab4ff.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Draft genome from facultatively parthenogenetic Opiliones indicates frequent mitonuclear sequence transfer and novel full-length insertions","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"genome assembly, Opiliones, polyploidy, long-read sequencing, facultative parthenogenesis","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3846124/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3846124/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground: Facultative parthenogenesis and intra-population mixed ploidy are rare in animals. 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