Abstract: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) techniques provide the rapid, highthroughput and cost-effective approach to genomics research, which has profoundly transformed the research on current biology. In recent years, NGS has greatly promoted the development of insect transcriptomics, especially for insects without reference genome sequences. Since 2008, insect transcriptomes of 68 species belonging to seven orders have been sequenced by using NGS, of which 22 species from six orders were sequenced by Chinese scientists. Currently, insect transcriptomics based on NGS mainly focus on new gene discovery, development of molecular markers, and gene expression profiling, providing the opportunity to reveal gene function related to insect life activities, phylogeny and evolution, and the interaction between insects and other organisms. In this article, we summarized the current results of insect transcriptomics research, analyzed the development trends in the future, discussed the limitations of insect transcriptomics research based on NGS (e. g., limited taxa, and relatively low-accuracy sequencing), and proposed what we need to keep in mind before launching insect transcriptomics studies, including specific scientific questions, appropriate research strategies, low-cost high performance, and efficient methods to utilize transcriptomic information. For the future prospects, we suggest that it is necessary: (1) to sequence more insect transcriptomes using NGS, paying significant attention to the typical insects from other insect orders and unique ecological environment; (2) to develop hardware and software for transcriptome data storage and analyses; and (3) to use NGS to study insect transcriptome with caution and take full advantage of the genetic information of sequenced insect transcriptome.

Key words: Insect, transcriptome, high-throughput sequencing, gene discovery, functional identification, gene expression