A draft genome assembly of the army worm, Spodoptera frugiperda

Abstract

Spodoptera is an agriculturally important pest insect and studies in understanding its biology have been limited by the unavailability of its genome. In the present study, the genomic DNA was sequenced and assembled into 37,243 scaffolds of size, 358. Mb with N50 of 53.7. kb. Based on degree of identity, we could anchor 305. Mb of the genome onto all the 28 chromosomes of Bombyx mori. Repeat elements were identified, which accounts for 20.28% of the total genome. Further, we predicted 11,595 genes, with an average intron length of 726. bp. The genes were annotated and domain analysis revealed that Sf genes share a significant homology and expression pattern with B. mori, despite differences in KOG gene categories and representation of certain protein families. The present study on Sf genome would help in the characterization of cellular pathways to understand its biology and comparative evolutionary studies among lepidopteran family members to help annotate their genomes. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.