Whole Genome Assembly and Annotation of Two Invasive Sitona Species

Abstract

Weevils are a highly diversified taxon, comprising about 70,000 described species, including many of high economic importance. Here, we present whole genome assemblies and annotations of two Sitona species (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae). Sitona species are widespread invasive forage pests that affect a wide range of legume crops, including clover (Trifolium spp.) and Medicago species. We sequenced, assembled, and annotated the genomes of Sitona discoideus and S. obsoletus using Nanopore long reads, 10X Chromium linked reads, and Illumina short reads. Assembled genomes are 1.17 and 1.2 Gb in size with 81.45% and 84.26% of repeat elements in S. discoideus and S. obsoletus, respectively. Both genomes have over 94% of the conserved BUSCO genes. Using the MAKER2 pipeline, we predicted 10,008 protein-coding genes and 13,611 mRNAs for S. discoideus and 9777 protein-coding genes and 13,521 mRNAs for S. obsoletus. These genomic resources will facilitate a wide range of genetic, genomic, and phylogenetic studies on invasive weevils, as well as other weevil species in the subfamily Entiminae.