Unravelling the evolution of wood-feeding in termites with 47 high-resolution genome assemblies

Termites are a lineage of social cockroaches abundant in tropical ecosystems where they are key decomposers of organic matter. Despite their ecological significance, only a handful of reference-quality termite genomes have been sequenced, which is insufficient to unravel the genetic mechanisms that have contributed to their ecological success. Here, we perform sequencing and hybrid assembly of 45 taxonomically and ecologically diverse termites and two cockroaches, resulting in haplotype-merged genome assemblies of 47 species, 22 of which were near-chromosome level. Next, we examine the link between termite dietary evolution and major genomic events. We find that Termitidae, which include ~80% of described termite species, have larger genomes with more genes and a higher proportion of transposons than other termites. Our analyses identify a gene number expansion early in the evolution of Termitidae, including an expansion of the repertoire of CAZymes, the genes involved in lignocellulose degradation. Notably, this expansion of genomes and gene repertoires coincided with the origin of soil-feeding in Termitidae and remained unchanged in lineages that secondarily reverted to a wood-based diet. Overall, our sequencing effort multiplies the number of available termite genomes by six and provides insights into the genome evolution of an ancient lineage of social insects.

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Publication Details

Journal
Nature Communications
Published
2025-12-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-65969-5
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
7.27

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article

Unravelling the evolution of wood-feeding in termites with 47 high-resolution genome assemblies

Tracy Audisio, Simon Hellemans, Mark C. Harrison, David Sillam‐Dussès et al.
4 citations
Nature Communications
Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
7.27
article

Unravelling the evolution of wood-feeding in termites with 47 high-resolution genome assemblies

Tracy Audisio, Simon Hellemans, Mark C. Harrison, David Sillam‐Dussès, Gaku Tokuda, Jan Šobotník, Cong Liu, Zongqing Wang, Dino P. McMahon, Alina A. Mikhailova, Crystal Clitheroe, Ives Haifig, Cédric Aumont, Aleš Buček, Shulin He, Yi‐Ming Weng, Thomas Bourguignon
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Termites are a lineage of social cockroaches abundant in tropical ecosystems where they are key decomposers of organic matter. Despite their ecological significance, only a handful of reference-quality termite genomes have been sequenced, which is insufficient to unravel the genetic mechanisms that have contributed to their ecological success. Here, we perform sequencing and hybrid assembly of 45 taxonomically and ecologically diverse termites and two cockroaches, resulting in haplotype-merged genome assemblies of 47 species, 22 of which were near-chromosome level. Next, we examine the link between termite dietary evolution and major genomic events. We find that Termitidae, which include ~80% of described termite species, have larger genomes with more genes and a higher proportion of transposons than other termites. Our analyses identify a gene number expansion early in the evolution of Termitidae, including an expansion of the repertoire of CAZymes, the genes involved in lignocellulose degradation. Notably, this expansion of genomes and gene repertoires coincided with the origin of soil-feeding in Termitidae and remained unchanged in lineages that secondarily reverted to a wood-based diet. Overall, our sequencing effort multiplies the number of available termite genomes by six and provides insights into the genome evolution of an ancient lineage of social insects.

Nature CommunicationsVol. 16(1)
Chongqing Normal University (CN), Federal Institute For Materials Research and Testing (DE), Southwest University (CN), Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University (JP), Czech Academy of Sciences (CZ), Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CZ), University of Münster (DE), University of the Ryukyus (JP), Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (FR), Institute for Biodiversity (DE), Institute of Entomology (CZ), Laboratoire d’Ethologie Expérimentale et Comparée (FR), Czech Academy of Sciences, Biology Centre (CZ), Universidade Federal do ABC (BR), Coventry University (GB), Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
South Carolina Department of Agriculture, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Grantová Agentura České Republiky, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Freie Universität Berlin, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Openalex Percentile: Top 3%
Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
7.27
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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