Shared features underlying compact genomes and extreme habitat use in chironomid midges

Non-biting midges (family Chironomidae) are found throughout the globe in a diverse array of aquatic habitats, can often tolerate harsh conditions such as hypoxia or desiccation, and have consistently compact genomes. Yet we know little about the shared molecular basis for these attributes and how they have evolved across the family. Here, we pursued these questions by first creating high-quality, annotated reference assemblies for Tanytarsus gracilentus (subfamily Chironominae, tribe Tanytarsini) and Parochlus steinenii (subfamily Podonominae).