The First Chromosome-level assembly of Japanese Eel Genome
Japanese eels (Anguilla japonica) are a commercially important species extensively harvested for food. Currently, commercial breeding of Japanese, American, and European eels is challenging. As a result, wild stocks are used in aquaculture. In addition, climate change, habitat loss, water pollution, and altered ocean currents negatively affect eel populations. Japanese eels are therefore listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Research study led by Professor Chris Wong from the Department of Biology at HKBU has presented the first chromosome-level assembly of the Japanese eel genome and examined the large chromosome reorganizations that followed the third round of whole-genome duplication (3R-WGD). There were chromosomal fusions and fissions in the Anguilla lineage that reduced the ancestral proto-chromosome number from 25 to 19. Phylogenetic analysis of expanded gene families indicates that voltage-gated Ca2+ channels and olfactory receptors have significantly expanded. The two gene families are of importance in the fields of olfaction and neurophysiology. Following 3R-WGD, tandem and proximal duplications occurred, resulting in the acquisition of adaptive immunity genes. Identifying adaptive and disease-resistant alleles can serve as an ecological and conservation tool. The Japanese eel assembly presented here can also be used to study other Anguilla species.
The results have recently been published in GigaScience “A Chromosome-level assembly of the Japanese eel genome, insights into gene duplication and chromosomal reorganization”.
