ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The advancement of sequencing technologies results in the rapid release of hundreds of new genome assemblies a year providing unprecedented resources for the study of genome evolution. Within this context, the significance of in-depth analyses of repetitive elements, transposable elements (TEs) in particular, is increasingly recognized in understanding genome evolution. Despite the plethora of available bioinformatic tools for identifying and annotating TEs, the phylogenetic distance of the target species from a curated and classified database of repetitive element sequences constrains any automated annotation effort. Moreover, manual curation of raw repeat libraries is deemed essential due to the frequent incompleteness of automatically generated consensus sequences. RESULTS: Here, we present an example of a crowd-sourcing effort aimed at curating and annotating TE libraries of two non-model species built around a collaborative, peer-reviewed teaching process. Manual curation and classification are time-consuming processes that offer limited short-term academic rewards and are typically confined to a few research groups where methods are taught through hands-on experience. Crowd-sourcing efforts could therefore offer a significant opportunity to bridge the gap between learning the methods of curation effectively and empowering the scientific community with high-quality, reusable repeat libraries. CONCLUSIONS: The collaborative manual curation of TEs from two tardigrade species, for which there were no TE libraries available, resulted in the successful characterization of hundreds of new and diverse TEs in a reasonable time frame. Our crowd-sourcing setting can be used as a teaching reference guide for similar projects: A hidden treasure awaits discovery within non-model organisms.
ABSTRACT
The new species Leptopus gakalae is described from caves in Iran and compared to congeners occurring in the western Palearctic region. Figures are provided of the dorsal habitus and diagnostic morphological characters. Also provided are additional records for other species of Leptopus Latrielle, 1809, occurring from India westward through Europe and North Africa, as well as the first North American record of Leptopus marmoratus (Goeze, 1778) based on an agricultural quarantine intercept. A key is provided to all species of Leptopus occurring in the Western Palearctic region. Notes are also provided on other species of Heteroptera occurring in Iranian caves, with special reference to the small water strider Velia affinis Kolenati, 1857.
