The first chromosome-scale Dugesia genomes shed light on structural rearrangements and genome size evolution in flatworms

AbstractHigh-quality, chromosome-scale genomes are crucial for understanding biological processes, yet many metazoan lineages, including most Lophotrochozoa, remain underrepresented in genome databases. Among these, planarians (Platyhelminthes, Tricladida), particularly Dugesia, are a globally distributed and phenotypically diverse group that has become an important model in evolutionary biology, notably for investigating the genetic effects of agametic asexuality. However, the lack of chromosome-scale assemblies has limited progress. Here, we present the first chromosome-scale genomes of four Western Mediterranean Dugesia species, displaying the first intra- and intergeneric comparisons. Comparison with the regeneration model organism Schmidtea mediterranea, rejects a whole-genome duplication as the cause of differences in chromosomal number and genome size between genera. Instead, Dugesia shows extensive lineage-specific and differential expansions of DNA transposable elements, likely contributing to genome size variation during diversification. Despite differences in the dynamics of structural genome rearrangements observed between genera, both groups lack the conservation of ancestral metazoan linkage groups, supporting the idea that genome structural instability is a key feature of flatworm genome evolution. Our newly generated genomic resources and findings offer vital insights into the genetic basis of diversification and establish Dugesia as a valuable model for studying metazoan genome dynamics, including the evolution of alternative reproductive systems.