Genomic tools for all entomologists: aTRAM and its use in insect phylogenomics

Genome sequencing technologies have rapidly increased the amount of data entomologists can obtain for a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. The major bottleneck for these data is having the proper computational resources and skills needed to rapidly handle these datasets. Methods: We have developed a method to quickly target and assemble specific loci from next generation sequences, aTRAM (automated Target Restricted Assembly Method). This software reduces both the computational skills and resources necessary to assemble genes from a variety of datasets including whole-genomes, UCEs and transcriptomes. We will demonstrate the methods behind aTRAM and its uses in entomological data. Results/Conclusions: We have successfully used aTRAM to assemble phylogenomic datasets of thousands of genes across a wide range of taxa to resolve particularly difficult nodes including the phylogenetic structure of Hemipteroid insects as well as across the quickly evolving Phthirapteran clades. We will also demonstrate the usefulness and power of aTRAM to assemble a variety of datasets from single whole-genome sequencing runs.