A team of Japanese researchers has used a new Pacific bluefin tuna reference genome to identify male-specific DNA markers in the fish The cultivation and conservation of one of the most important commercial fishes in the world may come down to sex determination — how can you successfully breed a species without knowing the sex of your stock? A Japanese research team has come up with a solution, thanks to a new Pacific bluefin tuna reference genome and the male-specific DNA markers they were able to identify as a result. In a study published recently in the Nature journal Scientific…
With their large brains, sophisticated sense organs and complex nervous systems, cephalopods could teach us a thing or two about learning, memory, and adaptability. But despite their evolutionary, biological, and economic significance, their genome information is still limited to a few species. To bridge this gap, a team of Korean scientists has assembled the genome of the common long-arm octopus (Octopus minor) using PacBio technology to sequence both the DNA and RNA of the emerging model species. Found in Northeast Asia, particularly in coastal mudflats of South Korea, China, and Japan, O. minor has become a major commercial fishery product…
Northern Bluefin Tuna Their bodies are big, bony and… warm? Unique among bony fish, Atlantic, Pacific and Southern bluefin tuna have a rare endothermic physiology that has garnered great interest among scientists. Like birds, mammals and some sharks, these kings of the sea are capable of conserving internally generated metabolic heat produced from their swimming muscles and viscera, and maintaining tissue temperatures above that of the environment. The fish are also renowned among sushi enthusiasts for their delectable, fat-laden muscle, and prized by fisherman because of the high prices they command. So the preservation of these species is paramount to…
When German diver Joachim Kreiselmaier reached the deepest parts of the Danube-Aach cave system, he couldn’t believe his eyes: a “strange fish,” with a pale body coloration and smaller eyes and larger nares and barbels than the loaches typically spotted nearby. He had discovered the first cavefish in Europe, and the northernmost in the world. “This is spectacular, as it was believed that the Pleistocene glaciations prevented fish from colonizing subterranean habitats north of 41° latitude,” said ecologist Jasminca Behrmann-Godel of the Limnological Institute of the University of Konstanz, who examined the fish Kreiselmaier brought back to the surface. “Initial…
Many investigators rely on targeted sequencing approaches for deep dives into genomic regions of interest. By designing specific probes — often using short-read sequences directed towards the exome and supported by existing reference genomes or transcriptome assemblies — scientists can home in on exactly the area they want to explore. But what about sequences in intergenic regions not covered by short reads, which could contain crucial regulatory elements varying between populations that might be of functional and evolutionary importance? Or, what about species lacking high-quality reference genomes to guide probe design? A team of Norwegian researchers are tackling these challenges…
The ability to study the speciation of an animal in real-time is a dream come true for evolutionary and developmental biologists. A group of Japanese researchers has gotten that opportunity, thanks in part to SMRT Sequencing. Scientists at the University of Tokyo were the first to create a reference genome for an inbred strain of the medaka fish (Oryzias latipes), genome size ~800 Mb, in 2007. The genome assembly was created using Sanger sequencing, but contained low-quality regions and 97,933 sequence gaps. So, the team started from scratch with long-read sequencing to generate genome assemblies with far less missing sequence.…