Grasshopper genome reveals long-term conservation of the X chromosome and temporal variation in X chromosome evolution

Grasshopper genome reveals long-term conservation of the X chromosome and temporal variation in X chromosome evolution | 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 Article Grasshopper genome reveals long-term conservation of the X chromosome and temporal variation in X chromosome evolution Xinghua Li, Judith Mank, Liping Ban This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2095195/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 We present the first chromosome-level genome assembly of the grasshopper, Locusta migratoria , one of the largest insect genomes. We use coverage differences between females (XX) and males (X0) to identify the X chromosome gene content and find that the X chromosome shows both complete dosage compensation in somatic tissues and an underrepresentation of testes-expressed genes. Remarkably, X-linked gene content from L. migratoria is highly conserved across four insect orders, namely Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Diptera, and the 800 Mb grasshopper X chromosome is homologous to the fly ancestral X chromosome despite 400 million years of divergence, suggesting either repeated origin of sex chromosomes with highly similar gene content, or long-term conservation of the X chromosome. We use this broad conservation of the X chromosome to test for temporal dynamics to Fast-X evolution, and find evidence of a recent burst evolution for new X-linked genes in contrast to slow evolution of X-conserved genes. Additionally, our results reveal the X chromosome represents a hotspot for adaptive protein evolution related migration and the locust swarming phenotype. Overall, our results reveal a remarkable case of conservation and adaptation on the X chromosome. Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files grasshoppersupplementaryfiles.docx 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. 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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-2095195","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":140930911,"identity":"13727489-132e-4a4d-95c5-24a31e1eb10b","order_by":0,"name":"Xinghua Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"China Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xinghua","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""},{"id":140930912,"identity":"55f590d0-b8e6-4e23-a37d-eec6c4b889cc","order_by":1,"name":"Judith Mank","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2450-513X","institution":"University of British Columbia","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Judith","middleName":"","lastName":"Mank","suffix":""},{"id":140930913,"identity":"654872fd-54aa-4387-8f7e-bcc983b2ee90","order_by":2,"name":"Liping Ban","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA00lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACPmYGhgNAOoGBgfnAgQ8/iNDChtDClnhwZg8xWqA0UAuP8WEONnxqYVrYeQ8eLvjFkMc/u+fDYQYeBnl+sQOEHMaXcHhmH0OxxJ2zGw4XWDAYzpydQEgLj8Fh3h6GxIYbuRsOz+BhSDC4TayW+TdyHhzmYSNWC88PhsQNN3IYiNUC9AtvA0Ox4Y00A2AgSxD2Cz//2cOfef4w5MndSH784cMPG3l+aQJagNHBwMDY9h/GkyCkHKqF4Q8xCkfBKBgFo2DEAgB0mEPaA+r0pwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"China Agricultural University","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liping","middleName":"","lastName":"Ban","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2022-09-23 07:20:39","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2095195/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2095195/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":27216650,"identity":"8cecd435-9937-4a12-9ed8-37f05e3a0332","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-09-30 22:40:45","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":692876,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"grasshoppermanuscript1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2095195/v1_covered.pdf"},{"id":27216642,"identity":"90322feb-6c24-411d-abb6-be3ea9a82cc4","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2022-09-30 22:40:35","extension":"docx","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":2029943,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"grasshoppersupplementaryfiles.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-2095195/v1/219b772ce1d125e4f68138e5.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Grasshopper genome reveals long-term conservation of the X chromosome and temporal variation in X chromosome evolution","fulltext":[{"header":"Full Text","content":"This preprint is available for \u003ca href='/article/rs-2095195/latest.pdf' target='_blank'\u003edownload as a PDF\u003c/a\u003e."}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"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":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-2095195/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2095195/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"We present the first chromosome-level genome assembly of the grasshopper, \u003ci\u003eLocusta migratoria\u003c/i\u003e, one of the largest insect genomes. We use coverage differences between females (XX) and males (X0) to identify the X chromosome gene content and find that the X chromosome shows both complete dosage compensation in somatic tissues and an underrepresentation of testes-expressed genes. Remarkably, X-linked gene content from \u003ci\u003eL. migratoria\u003c/i\u003e is highly conserved across four insect orders, namely Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Coleoptera and Diptera, and the 800 Mb grasshopper X chromosome is homologous to the fly ancestral X chromosome despite 400 million years of divergence, suggesting either repeated origin of sex chromosomes with highly similar gene content, or long-term conservation of the X chromosome. We use this broad conservation of the X chromosome to test for temporal dynamics to Fast-X evolution, and find evidence of a recent burst evolution for new X-linked genes in contrast to slow evolution of X-conserved genes. 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