Evolutionary Dynamics of the Complete Chemosensory Repertoire in Kissing Bugs of the Genus Rhodnius: Divergent Odorant Receptors Contrast with Conserved Gene Families

This repository contains the complete chemosensory protein and nucleotide sequences, along with the results of evolutionary selection tests for 13 species of the genus Rhodnius. 1. Project Description This dataset supports the study of the chemosensory repertoire (ORs, GRs, IRs, OBPs, and CSPs) across 13 Rhodnius genomes. The study highlights the contrast between the conservation of Gustatory (GRs) and Ionotropic (IRs) receptors and the high dynamic evolution of Odorant Receptors (ORs), particularly in species adapted to human habitats. 2. Repository Structure 2.1 Sequence Data (FASTA) The following files contain all identified chemosensory genes in both amino acid (.faa) and nucleotide (.fna) formats: Rhodnius_OR_proteins.faa / Rhodnius_OR_CDS.fna: Odorant Receptors. Rhodnius_GR_proteins.faa / Rhodnius_GR_CDS.fna: Gustatory Receptors Rhodnius_IR_proteins.faa / Rhodnius_IR_CDS.fna: Ionotropic Receptors. Rhodnius_OBP_proteins.faa / Rhodnius_OBP_CDS.fna: Odorant-Binding Proteins. Rhodnius_CSP_proteins.faa / Rhodnius_CSP_CDS.fna: Chemosensory Proteins. 2.2 Phylogenetic Trees Archives containing the multiple sequence alignments and the resulting phylogenetic trees (Newick/Treefile format): OR_trees.zip: Alignment (OR.ali.fasta) and tree file (OR.ali.treefile) for Odorant Receptors. GR_trees.zip: Alignment (GR.ali.fasta) and tree file (GR.ali.treefile) for Gustatory Receptors. IR_trees.zip: Alignment (IR.ali.fasta) and tree file (IR.ali.treefile) for Ionotropic Receptors. OBP_trees.zip: Alignment (OBP.ali.fasta) and tree file (OBP.ali.treefile) for Odorant-Binding Proteins. CSP_trees.zip: Alignment (CSP.ali.fasta) and tree file (CSP.ali.treefile) for Chemosensory Proteins. 2.3 Evolutionary Selection Tests These archives contain the results of selection pressure analyses (e.g., dN/dS ratios, Likelihood Ratio Tests). Each gene family folder is subdivided by orthologous groups (e.g., GR1, GR2). OR_selection.zip GR_selection.zip IR_selection.zip Inside each selection archive, you will find: *_ali.fasta: Codon-based multiple sequence alignment. *_ali.pml: Codon-based multiple sequence alignment in PAML-friendly format. tree: The phylogenetic tree used for the selection model. LRT_BM.xls / BM_LRT.xls: Results for the Branch Model tests (domiciliary species vs. sylvatic species, see the associated paper). LRT_SM.xls / SM_LRT.xls: Results for the Site Model tests. 3. Methods Brief Genomes: Genomic data were sourced from NCBI (see paper for specific assembly accessions). Annotation: Initial identification was performed using insectOR and Exonerate, followed by manual curation of gene models. Trees: Alignements was performed using MAFFT and ML trees using IQ-TREE. Selection Tests: Positive selection was assessed using PAML (codeml, EasyCodeML) on codon-aligned sequences. 4. Species Included Rhodnius bretesi Rhodnius colombiensis Rhodnius (=Psammolestes) coreodes Rhodnius domesticus Rhodnius milesi Rhodnius montenegrensis Rhodnius nastutus Rhodnius neglectus Rhodnius neivai Rhodnius pallescens Rhodnius pictipes Rhodnius prolixus Rhodnius robustus 5. Usage and Citation If you use these data, please cite the original publication: Merle, M. et al. (2026). Evolutionary Dynamics of the Complete Chemosensory Repertoire in Kissing Bugs of the Genus Rhodnius: Divergent Odorant Receptors Contrast with Conserved Gene Families. (in prep) For the specific dataset version, you can also cite this Zenodo DOI: DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19064793