The Nuclear and Mitochondrial Genomes of the Facultatively Eusocial Orchid Bee Euglossa dilemma

Bees provide indispensable pollination services to both agricultural crops and wild plant populations, and several species of bees have become important models for the study of learning and memory, plant–insect interactions, and social behavior. Orchid bees (Apidae: Euglossini) are especially important to the fields of pollination ecology, evolution, and species conservation. Here we report the nuclear and mitochondrial genome sequences of the orchid bee Euglossa dilemma Bembé & Eltz. E. dilemma was selected because it is widely distributed, highly abundant, and it was recently naturalized in the southeastern United States. We provide a high-quality assembly of the 3.3 Gb genome, and an official gene set of 15,904 gene annotations. We find high conservation of gene synteny with the honey bee throughout 80 MY of divergence time. This genomic resource represents the first draft genome of the orchid bee genus Euglossa, and the first draft orchid bee mitochondrial genome, thus representing a valuable resource to the research community

Mesh Partitioning Algorithm Based on Parallel Finite Element Analysis and Its Actualization

In parallel computing based on finite element analysis, domain decomposition is a key technique for its preprocessing. Generally, a domain decomposition of a mesh can be realized through partitioning of a graph which is converted from a finite element mesh. This paper discusses the method for graph partitioning and the way to actualize mesh partitioning. Relevant softwares are introduced, and the data structure and key functions of Metis and ParMetis are introduced. The writing, compiling, and testing of the mesh partitioning interface program based on these key functions are performed. The results indicate some objective law and characteristics to guide the users who use the graph partitioning algorithm and software to write PFEM program, and ideal partitioning effects can be achieved by actualizing mesh partitioning through the program. The interface program can also be used directly by the engineering researchers as a module of the PFEM software. So that it can reduce the application of the threshold of graph partitioning algorithm, improve the calculation efficiency, and promote the application of graph theory and parallel computing

Relaxed selection underlies genome erosion in socially parasitic ant species

Inquiline ants are highly specialized and obligate social parasites that infiltrate and exploit colonies of closely related species. They have evolved many times convergently, are often evolutionarily young lineages, and are almost invariably rare. Focusing on the leaf-cutting ant genus Acromyrmex, we compared genomes of three inquiline social parasites with their free-living, closely-related hosts. The social parasite genomes show distinct signatures of erosion compared to the host lineages, as a consequence of relaxed selective constraints on traits associated with cooperative ant colony life and of inquilines having very small effective population sizes. We find parallel gene losses, particularly in olfactory receptors, consistent with inquiline species having highly reduced social behavioral repertoires. Many of the genomic changes that we uncover resemble those observed in the genomes of obligate non-social parasites and intracellular endosymbionts that branched off into highly specialized, host-dependent niches

The genome of the largest bony fish, ocean sunfish (<i>Mola mola</i>), provides insights into its fast growth rate

BACKGROUND: The ocean sunfish (Mola mola), which can grow up to a length of 2.7 m and weigh 2.3 tons, is the world’s largest bony fish. It has an extremely fast growth rate and its endoskeleton is mainly composed of cartilage. Another unique feature of the sunfish is its lack of a caudal fin, which is replaced by a broad and stiff lobe that results in the characteristic truncated appearance of the fish. RESULTS: To gain insights into the genomic basis of these phenotypic traits, we sequenced the sunfish genome and performed a comparative analysis with other teleost genomes. Several sunfish genes involved in the growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor 1 (GH/IGF1) axis signalling pathway were found to be under positive selection or accelerated evolution, which might explain its fast growth rate and large body size. A number of genes associated with the extracellular matrix, some of which are involved in the regulation of bone and cartilage development, have also undergone positive selection or accelerated evolution. A comparison of the sunfish genome with that of the pufferfish (fugu), which has a caudal fin, revealed that the sunfish contains more homeobox (Hox) genes although both genomes contain seven Hox clusters. Thus, caudal fin loss in sunfish is not associated with the loss of a specific Hox gene. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses provide insights into the molecular basis of the fast growth rate and large size of the ocean sunfish. The high-quality genome assembly generated in this study should facilitate further studies of this ‘natural mutant’. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13742-016-0144-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A soft selective sweep during rapid evolution of gentle behaviour in an Africanized honeybee

Africanized honey bees (AHB) are notoriously aggressive, but in Puerto Rico they have a ‘gentle’ phenotype. Here, Avalos et al. show that there has been a soft selective sweep at several loci in the Puerto Rican AHB population and suggest a role in the rapid evolution of gentle behaviour

Developmental plasticity shapes social traits and selection in a facultatively eusocial bee

Developmental plasticity generates phenotypic variation, but how it contributes to evolutionary change is unclear. Phenotypes of individuals in caste-based (eusocial) societies are particularly sensitive to developmental processes, and the evolutionary origins of eusociality may be rooted in developmental plasticity of ancestral forms. We used an integrative genomics approach to evaluate the relationships among developmental plasticity, molecular evolution, and social behavior in a bee species (Megalopta genalis) that expresses flexible sociality, and thus provides a window into the factors that may have been important at the evolutionary origins of eusociality. We find that differences in social behavior are derived from genes that also regulate sex differentiation and metamorphosis. Positive selection on social traits is influenced by the function of these genes in development. We further identify evidence that social polyphenisms may become encoded in the genome via genetic changes in regulatory regions, specifically in transcription factor binding sites. Taken together, our results provide evidence that developmental plasticity provides the substrate for evolutionary novelty and shapes the selective landscape for molecular evolution in a major evolutionary innovation: Eusociality

Dwelling as the life basis of Ukrainians

На прикладі містечок Батурина, Глухова, Борзни та Кролевця у статті розглядається інтер’єр жител населення Чернігово-Сіверщини (друга половина ХVІІІ – середина ХІХ ст.). На основі значного описового матеріалу, стосовно звичаїв і побуту українців, який накопичився в середині і особливо в другій половині ХІХ ст. можна зробити науково-вивірені узагальнення з приводу порівняльної характеристики українців і росіян. Дослідженням цієї теми займалися М. Маркевич, І. Срезнєвський, П. Куліш та ін. Значний внесок до вивчення даної проблематики належить історику М. Костомарову, який виокремив український культурний і традиційно-буттєвий комплекс із загальноросійського, що утрадиційнилось як спільне за понад сторіччя співжиття в рамках однієї імперії. Також у даній статті характеризується поділ оселі на умовні частини та визначаються основні сакральні центри хати. Автор наголошує на глибокому символічному обрядово-ритуальному значенні, яке українці надавали всім предметам хатнього інтер’єру та наголошує на ліричній прив’язаності їх до місця свого проживання.На примере городков Батурина, Глухова, Борзны и Кролевца в статье рассматривается интерьер жилищ населения Чернигово-Северщины во второй половине XVIII – середине XIX вв. На основе материалов, описывающих украинские обычаи и быт, накопившихся в средине, а особенно во второй половине XIX в., можно сделать обобщения по поводу сравнительной характеристики украинцев и русских. Исследованием этой темы занимались Н. Маркевич, И. Срезневский, П. Кулиш и другие ученые. Значительный вклад в изучение данной проблематики принадлежит историку Н. Костомарову, который выделил украинский культурный и традиционно- бытейный комплекс из общероссийского, которые сосуществовали более столетия в границах одной империи. Также в данной статье характеризируется разделение жилища на условные части и определяются основные сакральные центры дома (хаты). Автор отмечает глубокое символическое ритуально-обрядовое значение, которое украинцы придавали всем предметам домашнего интерьера, а также подчеркивает лирическую привязанность населения к месту его проживания.Article deals with the interior of dwellings in Chernihiv-Siverskyi region (in the 2nd half of the ХVІІІ – 1st half of the ХІХ cent.). On the example of towns Baturyn, Glukhiv, Borzna and Krolevets the article deals with the house interiors of the population of Chernihovo-Sivershchyna (the second half of the XVIII – mid. XIX cent.). The analysis is based on considerable descriptive material concerning Ukrainian customs and way of life that has accumulated in the middle and especially in the second half of the XIX cent. and led to scientific adjusted conclusion about the comparative characteristics of Ukrainians and Russians. This topic was researched by M. Markevych, I. Sreznevskyi, P. Kulish and others. A significant contribution to the study of this subject belongs to historian M. Kostomarov, who singled Ukrainian cultural and traditional existential complex out of all-Russian complex, that was considered unified for more than three centuries of coexistence within a single empire. Also, this article characterizes the division of the house on special parts and identifies the main sacred centres of the house. The attention is given to the fact that the Ukrainian housing is associated with many beliefs and rituals. It indicates that the dwelling-house reflects not only people’s ideological and artistic heritage, but also a pragmatic idea. After all, the house seemed a model of nature and the universe, which protected both physically and spiritually. We know that house was not only a place where the family spent most of its life, but it was the family hearth around which ancient and beautiful traditions were preserved. The author emphasizes the deep symbolic ritual value that Ukrainians gave to all subjects of domestic interior and the lyrical attachment to their place of residence. After all, the house had a kind of sacred meaning for its tenants, that is why, to the house and all domestic things people gave some philosophical content. Complexity of representations of the world for humans began from the dwelling and was a dominant through all life. It is revealed that a Ukrainian house with its aesthetic appearance and its interior in particular, is an important factor in the understanding of the Ukrainian people and makes the character unique, and one that is very different from the characteristics of other nations. The author concluded that this topic needs a further study