Large-scale analysis reveals that the genome features of simple sequence repeats are generally conserved at the family level in insects

BACKGROUND: Simple sequence repeats (SSR), also called microsatellites, have been widely used as genetic markers, and have been extensively studied in some model insects. At present, the genomes of more than 100 insect species are available. However, the features of SSRs in most insect genomes remain largely unknown. RESULTS: We identified 15.01 million SSRs across 136 insect genomes. The number of identified SSRs was positively associated with genome size in insects, but the frequency and density per megabase of genomes were not. Most insect SSRs (56.2−93.1%) were perfect (no mismatch). Imperfect (at least one mismatch) SSRs (average length 22−73 bp) were longer than perfect SSRs (16−30 bp). The most abundant insect SSRs were the di- and trinucleotide types, which accounted for 27.2% and 22.0% of all SSRs, respectively. On average, 59.1%, 36.8%, and 3.7% of insect SSRs were located in intergenic, intronic, and exonic regions, respectively. The percentages of various types of SSRs were similar among insects from the same family. However, they were dissimilar among insects from different families within orders. We carried out a phylogenetic analysis using the SSR frequencies. Species from the same family were generally clustered together in the evolutionary tree. However, insects from the same order but not in the same family did not cluster together. These results indicated that although SSRs undergo rapid expansions and contractions in different populations of the same species, the general genomic features of insect SSRs remain conserved at the family level. CONCLUSION: Millions of insect SSRs were identified and their genome features were analyzed. Most insect SSRs were perfect and were located in intergenic regions. We presented evidence that the variance of insect SSRs accumulated after the differentiation of insect families. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12864-017-4234-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.