Researchers, which include a University of Tsukuba member, have applied in a recently published research a gene sequencing type called transcriptomics to reconstruct the insect order Odana's phylogeny.

A ScienceDirect report said, through calibration of this sequencing with the use of the fossil record, researchers were able to identify when dragonflies and damselflies first appeared.

A lot of people hate insects, although the iridescent colors of the sophisticated flying technique of dragonflies and damselflies have made them a constant favorite globally.

These insects have existed in some form for hundreds of millions of years already, although the evolutionary history of these prehistoric life's relics has been poorly understood to date.

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 Transcriptomics

According to a Genetic Education report, the "field of transcriptomics evolved in the '1990s" with potential approaches to investigate the expression of genes.

A study of the ribonucleic acid or RNA collection, transcriptomics is also known as transcriptome that's found in a cell at any given time.

This RNA has a wealth of information that can be employed to identify relationships among different members of a species.

Understanding such relationships is vital for the reconstruction of evolutionary histories, or phylogenies, which are genetically similar to a family tree in a genetic sense.

Reconstructing Order Odana

Professor Ryuichiro Machida, one of the authors of the study said, this is the order of Ordanata's first transcriptome-based phylogenetic reconstruction. He added, they were able to analyze 2,980 protein-coding genes in all, in over 100 species that cover all, except two families of the order.

There are thousands of existing Odonata species, although few have been examined in a phylogenetic context, and most of them have been identified or distinguished on the basis of physical features like patterns of wings or the appearance of larvae.

Comparing physical characteristics can be useful, but for existing species, it is not usually as helpful when attempting to reconstruct evolutionary histories. That's where calibration of fossils and transcriptomics are useful.

Machida explained, a robust and dependable phylogenetic reconstruction is vital for reliable approximations of species divergence times. 

Comprehensive Fossil Dataset Used

The professor said, different calibration schemes for fossils can be used, although these can greatly affect the range of estimated dates.

Specifically, in their study published in iScience, the researchers used a comprehensive fossil dataset integrating newly analyzed fossils with data from the literature to develop a well-resolved and vigorously "time-calibrated polygyny for Odonata."

Essentially, such a reconstruction provides the most extensive divergence time estimates for Odonata until now, which means that the researchers were able to identify when dragonflies and damselflies first emerged approximately 200 million years ago.

There were even able to approximate the time as well, which particular evolutionary characteristics developed, like the tube-shaped organs for laying eggs called ovipositors.

Species that once thrived but have since died out were identified, as well. Given that such species can now only be determined in the fossil record, phylogenetic constructions and transcriptomics provide a distinct opportunity to better understand the links between the present and past or existing and non-existent species.

Related information about transcriptomics is shown on Shomu's Biology's YouTube video below:

 

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