bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.30.403303; this version posted December 1, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. The de novo genome of the “Spanish” slug Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855 (Gastropoda: Panpulmonata): massive expansion of transposable elements in a major pest species Zeyuan Chen1,2, Özgül Doğan3, Nadège Guiglielmoni4, Anne Guichard5,6, Michael Schrödl1,2,7 1 SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, 81247 Munich, Germany; 2 Department Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 82152 Planegg-Martinsried, Munich, Germany; 3 Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Faculty of Science, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey; 4 Evolutionary Biology & Ecology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 1050, Brussels, Belgium; 5 INRAE, Agrocampus Ouest, Université de Rennes, IGEPP, F-35650 Le Rheu, France ; 6 Univ. Rennes, CNRS, Inria, IRISA – UMR 6074, F-35000 Rennes, France; 7 GeoBio-Center LMU, 80333 Munich, Germany. *Correspondence address. Zeyuan Chen, SNSB-Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Münchhausenstr. 21, Munich 81247, Germany. E-mail:
[email protected] Abstract Background: The “Spanish” slug, Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855, is considered to be among the 100 worst pest species in Europe. It is common and invasive to at least northern and eastern parts of Europe, probably benefitting from climate change and the modern human lifestyle. The origin and expansion of this species, the mechanisms behind its outstanding adaptive success and ability to outcompete other land slugs are worth to be explored on a genomic level.