Genomes of two closely related lineages of the louse Polyplax serrata with different host specificities

Sucking lice are extremely specialized group of parasitic insects, with many unique characteristics. Due to the morphological and behavioral changes during evolution of their unique lifestyle, they could provide a valuable model for studying genomic changes and adaptations. Despite this potential, a complete genome is currently available for only a single species, Pediculus humanus. Here, we present genomes for two lineages of another, phylogenetically distant species, Polyplax serrata, and compare its characterisitcs to the P. humanus genome. Such analyzes are required to distniguish between the features common for all sucking louse due to their parasitic lifestyles (e.g., loss of receptor-associated genes), and those unique to a particular species (e.g., reduction of genome size and GC content).