The genome sequence of the Small Emerald, (Esper, 1795).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Small Emerald; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Geometridae). The genome sequence is 438.2 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of Ashworth's Rustic, (Doubleday, 1855).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (Ashworth's Rustic; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 726.3 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of the short-fringed mining bee, (Kirby, 1802).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female (the short-fringed mining bee; Arthropoda; Insecta; Hymenoptera; Andrenidae). The genome sequence is 277.3 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of the Six-striped Rustic, (Haworth, 1809).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female (the Six-striped Rustic; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 638.3 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of the variegated flesh fly, (Scopoli, 1763).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the variegated flesh fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Sarcophagidae). The genome sequence is 718.5 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of the Common Pug, (Haworth, 1809).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Common Pug; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Geometridae). The genome sequence is 454.7 megabases in span.

The genome of Roselle's flesh fly ( ) Böttcher, 1912).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (Roselle's flesh fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Sarcophagidae). The genome sequence is 541 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into six chromosomal pseudomolecules, with the X sex chromosome assembled.

The genome sequence of the lesser worm flesh fly, ( ) Rohdendorf, 1937.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the lesser worm flesh fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Sarcophagidae). The genome sequence is 71 megabases in span. Most of the assembly (95.

The genome sequence of the Riband Wave, (Linnaeus, 1758).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Riband Wave; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Geometridae). The genome sequence is 437 megabases in span. The whole assembly is scaffolded into 30 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the assembled Z sex chromosome.

The genome sequence of (Stephens, 1832) (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae), a rove beetle.

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (a rove beetle; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Staphylinidae). The genome sequence is 1,030.6 megabases in span.

The genome sequence of the bluish flesh fly, ( ) (Zetterstedt, 1838).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the bluish flesh fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Sarcophagidae). The genome sequence is 597 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into seven chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the assembled X and Y sex chromosomes.

The genome sequence of the Tawny Mining Bee, (Müller, 1766).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female (the Tawny Mining Bee; Arthropoda; Insecta; Hymenoptera; Andrenidae). The genome sequence is 461.7 megabases in span.

A New Chromosome-Assigned Mongolian Gerbil Genome Allows Characterization of Complete Centromeres and a Fully Heterochromatic Chromosome.

Chromosome-scale genome assemblies based on ultralong-read sequencing technologies are able to illuminate previously intractable aspects of genome biology such as fine-scale centromere structure and large-scale variation in genome features such as heterochromatin, GC content, recombination rate, and gene content. We present here a new chromosome-scale genome of the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus), which includes the complete sequence of all centromeres. Gerbils are thus the one of the first vertebrates to have their centromeres completely sequenced.

The genome sequence of the Birch Marble, (Haworth, 1811).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Birch Marble; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Tortricidae). The genome sequence is 684 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 28 chromosomal pseudomolecules with the Z sex chromosome assembled.

Incubation temperature alters stripe formation and head colouration in American alligator hatchlings and is unaffected by estradiol-induced sex reversal.

Considerations of the impact climate change has on reptiles are typically focused on habitat change or loss, range shifts and skewed sex ratios in species with temperature-dependent sex determination. Here, we show that incubation temperature alters stripe number and head colouration of hatchling American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis). Animals incubated at higher temperatures (33.

The genome sequence of the Dark Arches (Hufnagel, 1766).

We present a genome assembly from an individual male (the Dark Arches, Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Noctuidae). The genome sequence is 576 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 31 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the assembled Z sex chromosome.

Regulation of posterior Hox genes by sex steroids explains vertebral variation in inbred mouse strains.

A series of elegant embryo transfer experiments in the 1950s demonstrated that the uterine environment could alter vertebral patterning in inbred mouse strains. In the intervening decades, attention has tended to focus on the technical achievements involved and neglected the underlying biological question: how can genetically homogenous individuals have a heterogenous number of vertebrae? Here I revisit these experiments and, with the benefit of knowledge of the molecular-level processes of vertebral patterning gained over the intervening decades, suggest a novel hypothesis for homeotic transformation of the last lumbar vertebra to the adjacent sacral type through regulation of Hox genes by sex steroids. Hox genes are involved in both axial patterning and development of male and female reproductive systems and have been shown to be sensitive to sex steroids in vitro and in vivo.

Runaway GC Evolution in Gerbil Genomes.

Recombination increases the local GC-content in genomic regions through GC-biased gene conversion (gBGC). The recent discovery of a large genomic region with extreme GC-content in the fat sand rat Psammomys obesus provides a model to study the effects of gBGC on chromosome evolution. Here, we compare the GC-content and GC-to-AT substitution patterns across protein-coding genes of four gerbil species and two murine rodents (mouse and rat).

Greater Loss of Female Embryos During Human Pregnancy: A Novel Mechanism.

Given an equal sex ratio at conception, the excess of human males at birth can only be explained by greater loss of females during pregnancy. It is proposed that the bias against females during human development is the result of a greater degree of genetic and metabolic "differentness" between female embryos and maternal tissues than for similarly aged males, and that successful implantation and placentation represents a threshold dichotomy, where the acceptance threshold shifts depending on maternal condition, especially stress. Right and left ovaries are not equal, and neither are the eggs and follicular fluid that they produce, and it is further hypothesized that during times of stress, the implantation threshold is shifted sufficiently to favor survival of females, most likely those originating from the right ovary, and that this, rather than simply a greater loss of males, explains at least some of the variability in the human sex ratio at birth.

A high-density genetic map and molecular sex-typing assay for gerbils.

We constructed a high-density genetic map for Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus). We genotyped 137 F2 individuals with a genotype-by-sequencing (GBS) approach at over 10,000 loci and built the genetic map using a two-step approach. First, we chose the highest-quality set of 485 markers to construct a robust map of 1239 cM with 22 linkage groups as expected from the published karyotype.

When one phenotype is not enough: divergent evolutionary trajectories govern venom variation in a widespread rattlesnake species.

Understanding the origin and maintenance of phenotypic variation, particularly across a continuous spatial distribution, represents a key challenge in evolutionary biology. For this, animal venoms represent ideal study systems: they are complex, variable, yet easily quantifiable molecular phenotypes with a clear function. Rattlesnakes display tremendous variation in their venom composition, mostly through strongly dichotomous venom strategies, which may even coexist within a single species.

Inbred or Outbred? Genetic Diversity in Laboratory Rodent Colonies.

Nonmodel rodents are widely used as subjects for both basic and applied biological research, but the genetic diversity of the study individuals is rarely quantified. University-housed colonies tend to be small and subject to founder effects and genetic drift; so they may be highly inbred or show substantial genetic divergence from other colonies, even those derived from the same source. Disregard for the levels of genetic diversity in an animal colony may result in a failure to replicate results if a different colony is used to repeat an experiment, as different colonies may have fixed alternative variants.

Genome sequence of a diabetes-prone rodent reveals a mutation hotspot around the ParaHox gene cluster.

The sand rat is a gerbil species native to deserts of North Africa and the Middle East, and is constrained in its ecology because high carbohydrate diets induce obesity and type II diabetes that, in extreme cases, can lead to pancreatic failure and death. We report the sequencing of the sand rat genome and discovery of an unusual, extensive, and mutationally biased GC-rich genomic domain. This highly divergent genomic region encompasses several functionally essential genes, and spans the ParaHox cluster which includes the insulin-regulating homeobox gene The sequence of sand rat has been grossly affected by GC-biased mutation, leading to the highest divergence observed for this gene across the Bilateria.

The spotted gar genome illuminates vertebrate evolution and facilitates human-teleost comparisons.

To connect human biology to fish biomedical models, we sequenced the genome of spotted gar (Lepisosteus oculatus), whose lineage diverged from teleosts before teleost genome duplication (TGD). The slowly evolving gar genome has conserved in content and size many entire chromosomes from bony vertebrate ancestors. Gar bridges teleosts to tetrapods by illuminating the evolution of immunity, mineralization and development (mediated, for example, by Hox, ParaHox and microRNA genes).