Skip to main content
ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #430026
Research Project: Sustainable Insect Pest Management for Urban Agriculture and Landscapes

Location: Invasive Insect Biocontrol & Behavior Laboratory

Title: Sequencing, annotation and analysis of the genome of Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, the cotton seed bug

Author
item HERAGHTY, SAM - Oak Ridge Institute For Science And Education (ORISE)
item Sim, Sheina
item Geib, Scott
item Corpuz, Renee
item HODDLE, CHRISTINA - University Of California, Riverside
item HODDLE, MARK - University Of California, Riverside
item Brent, Colin
item Gundersen, Dawn
item Sparks, Michael

Submitted to: Life Science Alliance
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/7/2026
Publication Date: 5/19/2026
Citation: Heraghty, S.D., Sim, S.B., Geib, S.M., Corpuz, R.L., Hoddle, C.D., Hoddle, M.S., Brent, C.S., Gundersen, D.E., Sparks, M. 2026. Sequencing, annotation and analysis of the genome of Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, the cotton seed bug. Life Science Alliance. 9(8). Article e202503598. https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202503598.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26508/lsa.202503598

Interpretive Summary: The cotton seed bug, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis, is an insect pest currently threatening fiber production security and economic output of domestic cotton production regions in California and the Mississippi Delta. This report presents the first draft genome sequence for this insect pest species, in which its sequencing, assembly, annotation and analysis are described. The cotton seed bug genome is compared with related hemipteran insects to identify cases of large-scale chromosomal alterations. Its protein coding gene content is compared with related species to identify cases of gene family expansion (or contraction) and to identify genetic differences between herbivorous and predatory insects. The results presented in this work provide information advantageous towards the development of effective population control measures for the cotton seed bug and contribute substantially to the understanding of hemipteran biology in general. This information will be of interest to cotton industry and entities interested in cotton-associated insect pest control.

Technical Abstract: The cotton seed bug, Oxycarenus hyalinipennis Costa (Hemiptera: Lygaeidae), is an invasive cotton pest detected in California, United States, in 2019. This report details the assembly and annotation of a reference genome for O. hyalinipennis, which will assist with the development of control strategies and provide evolutionary insight into this pest and hemipterans in general. The genome was sequenced from an adult male specimen using PacBio HiFi long reads and Element short-read sequencing of a HiC library. The assembly is 727,196,238 bp long with an N50 of 116 Mb. A total of 28,646 genes were identified by a customized annotation pipeline. Comparative genomics results suggest that chromosomal rearrangements may be common within Pentatomomorpha, based on syntenic analyses across all superfamilies. Comparison between available heteropteran genomes was used to identify changes in gene family size, as well as evolutionary differences, between taxa with different feeding strategies. Notably, herbivorous taxa had significantly larger genomes than predatory taxa. These genomic resources will be useful in efforts to understand and control this pest and advance the understanding of hemipteran evolution.