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Letter

Phylogenomic analysis reveals bees and wasps (Hymenoptera) at the base of the radiation of Holometabolous insects

¹Abteilung für Evolutionsgenetik, Institut für Genetik, Universität zu Köln, Köln 50674, Germany; ²Human Genome Sequencing Centre, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77002, USA; ³Department of Biology, University of Rochester, New York 14627, USA; ⁴The Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, Maryland 20850, USA; ⁵Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom; ⁶European Molecular Biology Laboratory, 69012 Heidelberg, Germany

Comparative studies require knowledge of the evolutionary relationships between taxa. However, neither morphological nor paleontological data have been able to unequivocally resolve the major groups of holometabolous insects so far. Here, we utilize emerging genome projects to assemble and analyze a data set of 185 nuclear genes, resulting in a fully resolved phylogeny of the major insect model species. Contrary to the most widely accepted phylogenetic hypothesis, bees and wasps (Hymenoptera) are basal to the other major holometabolous orders, beetles (Coleoptera), moths (Lepidoptera), and flies (Diptera). We validate our results by meticulous examination of potential confounding factors. Phylogenomic approaches are thus able to resolve long-standing questions about the phylogeny of insects.

E-mail m.j.lercher{at}bath.ac.uk; fax 44-1225-386779.

[Supplemental material is available online at www.genome.org.]

Article published online before print. Article and publication date are at http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gr.5204306.

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