A high-quality, long-read genome assembly of the whitelined sphinx moth (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae: Hyles lineata)

The sphinx moth genus Hyles comprises 29 described species inhabiting all continents except Antarctica. The genus diverged relatively recently (40 – 25 mya), arising in the Americas and rapidly establishing a cosmopolitan distribution. The whitelined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata, represents the oldest extant lineage of this group and is one of the most widespread and abundant sphinx moths in North America. Hyles lineata exhibits the large body size and adept flight control characteristic of the sphinx moth family (Sphingidae), but is unique in displaying extreme larval color variation and broad host plant use. These traits, in combination with its broad distribution and high relative abundance within its range, have made H. lineata a strong model organism for studying phenotypic plasticity, plant-herbivore interactions, physiological ecology, and flight control. Despite being one of the most well-studied sphinx moths, little data exists on genetic variation or regulation of gene expression. Here we report a high-quality draft genome showing high contiguity (N50 of 14.2 Mb) and completeness (98.2% of Lepidoptera BUSCO genes), an important first characterization to facilitate such studies. We also annotate the core melanin synthesis pathway genes and confirm that they have high sequence conservation with other moths and are most similar to those of another, well-characterized sphinx moth, the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta).

Methods
These data were collected as part of the assembly and structural annotation of the whitelined sphinx moth, Hyles lineata, genome (NCBI BioProject PRJNA944629). The readme.md file describes all of the files included here. DNA for this study was isolated from a male pupal Hyles lineata and sequenced using a PacBio Sequel IIe at the University of Florida ICBR facility (RRID: SCR_019152). The genome was assembled using HiFiasm (RRID:SCR_021069). Structural annotation was performed using BRAKER 2 with RNA-seq data from an adult female, an adult male, and a late-instar larvae. Melanin synthesis pathway genes were identified from the structural annotation using sequences from the domestic silkworm (Bombyx mori) and compared with putative homologs from another sphinx moth, the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta), and two more distantly related moths: the cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) and the striped rice stemborer (Chilo suppressalis), along with B. mori (used to identify sequences) and the well-characterized vinegar fly (Drosophila melanogaster).

天蛾属（Hyles）包含29个已描述物种，分布遍及除南极洲外的所有大陆。该属分化时间相对较近（4000万至2500万年前），起源于美洲并快速扩散至全球范围。白线条天蛾（Hyles lineata）是该类群现存最古老的支系，也是北美分布最广、种群数量最多的天蛾之一。白线条天蛾具备天蛾科（Sphingidae）特有的大型体型与精湛的飞行控制能力，但其独特之处在于幼虫具有极端的体色变异，且寄主植物范围极广。这些特征结合其广泛的分布域与所在区域内的高种群丰度，使得白线条天蛾成为研究表型可塑性、植物-植食性昆虫互作、生理生态学以及飞行控制的优质模式生物。尽管它是研究最为深入的天蛾类群之一，目前关于其遗传变异或基因表达调控的相关数据仍较为匮乏。本研究报道了一个高质量的草图基因组，其组装连续性优异（N50值为14.2 Mb）且基因组完整性高（覆盖98.2%的鳞翅目BUSCO（Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs）基因），这是推动相关研究的重要基础性表征工作。我们同时注释了核心黑色素合成通路基因，并证实这些基因与其他蛾类的序列保守性较高，且与另一种已被充分研究的天蛾——烟草天蛾（Manduca sexta）的同源基因相似度最高。

材料与方法
本研究的数据源自白线条天蛾（Hyles lineata）基因组的组装与结构注释（NCBI BioProject编号PRJNA944629）。本数据集附带的readme.md文件详细说明了其中包含的所有文件。本研究的DNA样本取自一只雄性白线条天蛾蛹，于佛罗里达大学ICBR设施使用PacBio Sequel IIe平台完成测序（RRID: SCR_019152）。基因组组装采用HiFiasm工具（RRID:SCR_021069）完成。结构注释使用BRAKER 2软件，结合了来自成年雌性、成年雄性以及晚龄幼虫的RNA-seq数据。黑色素合成通路基因通过结构注释结果，以家蚕（Bombyx mori）的序列为参考进行鉴定，并与另一种天蛾——烟草天蛾（Manduca sexta）、另外两种亲缘关系较远的蛾类：棉铃虫（Helicoverpa armigera）与二化螟（Chilo suppressalis）、家蚕（用于序列鉴定）以及研究充分的黑腹果蝇（Drosophila melanogaster）的推定同源基因进行比对分析。