Penaeid shrimp genome provides insights into benthic adaptation and frequent molting.

Authors: Zhang, Xiaojun and Yuan, Jianbo and Sun, Yamin and Li, Shihao and Gao, Yi and Yu, Yang and Liu, Chengzhang and Wang, Quanchao and Lv, Xinjia and Zhang, Xiaoxi and Ma, Ka Yan and Wang, Xiaobo and Lin, Wenchao and Wang, Long and Zhu, Xueli and Zhang, Chengsong and Zhang, Jiquan and Jin, Songjun and Yu, Kuijie and Kong, Jie and Xu, Peng and Chen, Jack and Zhang, Hongbin and Sorgeloos, Patrick and Sagi, Amir and Alcivar-Warren, Acacia and Liu, Zhanjiang and Wang, Lei and Ruan, Jue and Chu, Ka Hou and Liu, Bin and Li, Fuhua and Xiang, Jianhai

Crustacea, the subphylum of Arthropoda which dominates the aquatic environment, is of major importance in ecology and fisheries. Here we report the genome sequence of the Pacific white shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei, covering ~1.66?Gb (scaffold N50 605.56?Kb) with 25,596 protein-coding genes and a high proportion of simple sequence repeats (>23.93%). The expansion of genes related to vision and locomotion is probably central to its benthic adaptation. Frequent molting of the shrimp may be explained by an intensified ecdysone signal pathway through gene expansion and positive selection. As an important aquaculture organism, L. vannamei has been subjected to high selection pressure during the past 30 years of breeding, and this has had a considerable impact on its genome. Decoding the L. vannamei genome not only provides an insight into the genetic underpinnings of specific biological processes, but also provides valuable information for enhancing crustacean aquaculture.

Journal: Nature communications
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08197-4
Year: 2019

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