2nd Place: Genome size evolution in insect order Blattodea (cockroaches and termites)

Genome size has long been considered a fundamental biological characteristic. Studying its evolution may help us better understand the origin and underlying processes of the myriad life forms and styles. In this research, we sequenced and generated five de novo genome assemblies of three termite and two cockroach species. These genomes, together with five other previously sequenced genomes, cover all levels of social complexity in insects. Using these genome data, we are able to explore the evolution of genome size in the order Blattodea in particular, which serve as a important step towards the understanding of genome size evolution in insects in general. Specifically, we carried out the following objectives:

1. Construct the relationship between genome size and social complexity.

1. Examine the connection between genome size and life history.

1. Test two predominant mechanisms that have been proposed as primary drivers of eukaryotic genome size evolution, including duplication events (i.e., whole-genome or smaller-scale duplication events) and expansion of repetitive elements.

1. Test two major hypotheses regarding genome size adaptation: mutational hazard hypothesis and mutational equilibrium hypothesis.