Transcriptome-derived molecular resources for the conservation of threatened butterflies in Korea

Abstract

Butterflies are expedient biodiversity indicators of a healthy environment. As virtuous pollinators, they provide environmental and economic benefits to the agricultural and natural ecosystem. The global loss of the butterfly community, especially in tropical regions, is causing irreparable damage to the ecological landscape. This decline in population is due to habitat degradation, forest succession, loss of symbiotic relations, economic loss due to flooding, forest development plans, low grassland area, global warming, and reforestation. Moreover, the limited information on the molecular resources of butterflies impedes informed conservation planning. The Threatened Species Initiative (TSI) of Korea has started to utilize the benefits of transcriptome-guided discovery of molecular resources of a few butterfly species, and a few others are in the pipeline. The cataloging of new genes and genetic markers provides the possibility to promote selective utilization of fitness traits for adaptation of the species to the wild and a newer habitat. In this review, we assessed the versatility of whole-transcriptome information of the Korean threatened butterfly species, such as the lycaenid Protantigius superans and Spindasis takanosis, the Nymphalid butterfly, Fabriciana nerippe, and the Papilionid species Parnassius bremeri. The schema employed under TSI, including the sequencing and downstream bioinformatics pipeline, could act as a reference for research outside of Korean butterflies. While the molecular resources are available to be exploited, their utilization for conservation is still in its infancy. It is important to synthesize these studies together to catalyze further conservation work applying genomics approaches.