PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Timothy R. Fallon
AU  - Sarah E. Lower
AU  - Ching-Ho Chang
AU  - Manabu Bessho-Uehara
AU  - Gavin J. Martin
AU  - Adam J. Bewick
AU  - Megan Behringer
AU  - Humberto J. Debat
AU  - Isaac Wong
AU  - John C. Day
AU  - Anton Suvorov
AU  - Christian J. Silva
AU  - David W. Hall
AU  - Robert J. Schmitz
AU  - David R. Nelson
AU  - Sara Lewis
AU  - Shuji Shigenobu
AU  - Seth M. Bybee
AU  - Amanda M. Larracuente
AU  - Yuichi Oba
AU  - Jing-Ke Weng
TI  - Firefly genomes illuminate the origin and evolution of bioluminescence
AID  - 10.1101/237586
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 237586
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/12/21/237586.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/12/21/237586.full
AB  - Fireflies are among the best-studied of the bioluminescent organisms. Despite longterm interest in the biochemistry, neurobiology, and evolution of firefly flash signals and the widespread biotechnological applications of firefly luciferase, only a limited set of genes related to this complex trait have been described. To investigate the genetic basis of firefly bioluminescence, we generated a high-quality reference genome for the Big Dipper firefly Photinus pyralis, from which the first laboratory luciferase was cloned, using long-read (PacBio), short-read (Illumina), and Hi-C sequencing technologies. To facilitate comparative genomics, we also generated short-read genome assemblies for a Japanese firefly Aquatica lateralis and a bioluminescent click beetle, Ignelater luminosus. Analyses of these genomic datasets supports at least two independent gains of luminescence in beetles, and provides new insights into the evolution of beetle bioluminescence and chemical defenses that likely co-evolved over their 100 million years of evolution.