Oyster Genome Reveals Stress Adaptation and Complexity of Shell Formation
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December 5, 2012
Xiaodong Fang, Bioinformatician, Leader of Plant and Animal Genome Group, Beijing Genome Institute
Abstract
The Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas belongs to one of the most species-rich but genomically poorly explored phyla, the Mollusca. We report the sequencing and assembly of the oyster genome using short-reads and a fosmid-pooling strategy, along with transcriptomes of development and stress response, and proteome of shell. The oyster genome is highly polymorphic and rich in repetitive sequences, with some transposable elements still actively shaping variation. Transcriptome studies reveal an extensive set of genes responding to environmental stress. Expansion of heat shock protein 70 and of inhibitors of apoptosis is likely central to the oyster's adaptation to sessile life in the highly stressful intertidal zone. Our analyses also show shell formation in molluscs is more complex than currently understood and involves extensive participation of cells and their exosomes. The oyster genome sequence fills a void in our understanding of the Lophotrochozoa.
