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Student Poster Display

Systematics, Evolution, and Biodiversity

Student

Student Regular Poster: SysEB

D3302: Genome size estimation of six mite species and the evolution of genome size in the Acari

Tuesday, November 12, 2024
9:00 AM – 5:00 PM MST
Location: Phoenix Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 6, PCC
Poster Display

    Presenting Author(s)

  • Anugerah Fajar (he/him/his)

    Graduate Student
    University of Illinois
    Urbana, Illinois

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Jing Yang, Ph.D.

    Associate Professor
    Shanxi Agricultural University
    Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic)

  • YZ

    Yuying Zhang

    Shanxi Agricultural University
    Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic)

  • YW

    Yifei Wang

    Shanxi Agricultural University
    Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic)

  • MR

    Meifeng Ren

    Shanxi Agricultural University
    Taiyuan, Shanxi, China (People's Republic)

  • AM

    Austin Merchant

    University of Kentucky
    Lexington, Kentucky

  • Xuguo Zhou

    Professor
    University of Kentucky
    Lexington, Kentucky

Genome size is a fundamental and important genetic trait of an organism. Here, we investigated the genome size of the six mite species by flow cytometry. The estimated genome size of Tetranychus urticae, T. cinnabarinus, Amphitetranychus viennensis, T. truncates was 0.181pg (2C) for females and 0.093pg (1C) for males, 0.177pg (2C) for females and 0.091pg (1C) for males, 0.288pg (2C) for females and 0.139pg (1C) for males, 0.161pg (2C) for females and 0.081pg (1C) for males, respectively. The genome sizes of the two predatory mite species were estimated to be 0.502pg (2C) and 0.482pg (2C) for females of Neoseiulus barkeri and Phytoseiulus persimilis. Then, the genome sizes of 75 species were summarized. Among arthropods, mites clearly have much smaller genomes when compared with non-mite species both within and beyond Acari. The species with the smallest and the largest genome size in Acari represent a range of more than two orders of magnitude. The predatory and parasitic species in Acari possessed significantly larger genomes, specifically blood-sucking species. Finally, a comparison of genome size and other genomic and morphological features across Acari were analyzed. The proportion of repetitive elements, GC-content, gene number, and body size showed a positive correlation with genome size across all the Acari species. This study shed light on the variation of genome size in Acari and improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind the evolution of genome size.