Draft genome sequence of the glasshouse-potato aphid Aulacorthum solani

Abstract

AO_SCPLOWBSTRACTC_SCPLOWAulacorthum solani is a worldwide agricultural pest aphid capable of feeding on a wide range of host plants. This insect causes mechanical damage to crops and is a vector of plant viruses. We found that the publicly available genome for A. solani is contaminated with another aphid species, and we produced a new genome using a barcoded isogenic laboratory line. We produced Oxford Nanopore and Illumina reads to generate a draft assembly, and we sequenced RNA to aid in the annotation of our assembly. Our A. solani draft genome is 671 Mbp containing 7,020 contigs with an N50 length of 196 kb with a BUSCO completeness of 98.6%. Out of the 24,981 genes predicted by E-GAPx, 22,804 were annotated with putative functions based on homology to other aphid species. This genome will provide a useful resource for the community of researchers studying aphids from agricultural and genomic perspectives.