Chelymorpha alternans isolate: Genome sequencing
Folivorous insects must contend with a diet rich in recalcitrant plant polymers such as cellulose and pectin. These polymers comprise the plant cell wall, which impedes a folivore's access to cytosolic content. Tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) overcome these challenges by encoding cellulases endogenously, while outsourcing their pectinolytic metabolism to Candidatus Stammera capleta, a gammaproteobacterial symbiont maintained in foregut symbiotic organs. Pectinases are encoded within Stammera's drastically reduced genome (0.21 Mb), which enabled functional insights into the microbe's beneficial role. Here, we employed a comprehensive approach, including long-and short-read sequencing, as well as transcriptomics, to produce a high-quality reference genome for Chelymorpha alternans. Our aim was to uncover distinctive genomic features and explore the genetic basis of its symbiosis with Stammera.