Chromosome‐level assembly of the melon thrips genome yields insights into evolution of a sap‐sucking lifestyle and pesticide resistance

Abstract

Thrips are tiny insects from the order Thysanoptera (Hexapoda: Condylognatha), including many sap‐sucking pests that are causing increasing damage to crops worldwide. In contrast to their closest relatives of Hemiptera (Hexapoda: Condylognatha), including numerous sap‐sucking species, there are few genomic resources available for thrips. In this study, we assembled the first thrips genome at the chromosomal level from the melon thrips, Thrips palmi, a notorious pest in agriculture, using PacBio long‐read and Illumina short‐read sequences. The assembled genome was 270.43 Mb in size, with 4,120 contigs and a contig N50 of 426 kb. All contigs were assembled into 16 linkage groups assisted by the Hi‐C technique. In total, 16,333 protein‐coding genes were predicted, of which 88.13% were functionally annotated. Among sap‐sucking insects, polyphagous species (e.g., T. palmi and Bemisia tabaci) usually possess more detoxification genes than oligophagous species (e.g., Diaphorina citri). The polyphagous thrips genomes characterized so far have relatively more detoxification genes in the GST and CCE families than polyphagous aphids, but they have fewer UGTs. HSP genes, especially from the Hsp70s group, have expanded in thrips compared to other hemipterans. These differences point to different genetic mechanisms associated with detoxification and stress responses in these two groups of sap‐sucking insects. The expansion of these gene families may contribute to the rapid development of pesticide resistance in thrips, as supported by a transcriptome comparison of resistant and sensitive populations of T. palmi. The high‐quality genome developed here provides an invaluable resource for understanding the ecology, genetics, and evolution of thrips as well as their relatives more generally.