Northcutt Adam J, Lett Kawasi M, Garcia Virginia B, Diester Clare M, Lane Brian J, Marder Eve, Schulz David J
Division of Biological Sciences, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, USA.
Volen Center and Biology Department, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA.
BMC Genomics. 2016 Nov 4;17(1):868. doi: 10.1186/s12864-016-3215-z.
Crustaceans have been studied extensively as model systems for nervous system function from single neuron properties to behavior. However, lack of molecular sequence information and tools have slowed the adoption of these physiological systems as molecular model systems. In this study, we sequenced and performed de novo assembly for the nervous system transcriptomes of two decapod crustaceans: the Jonah crab (Cancer borealis) and the American lobster (Homarus americanus).
Forty-two thousand, seven hundred sixty-six and sixty thousand, two hundred seventy-three contigs were assembled from C. borealis and H. americanus respectively, representing 9,489 and 11,061 unique coding sequences. From these transcripts, genes associated with neural function were identified and manually curated to produce a characterization of multiple gene families important for nervous system function. This included genes for 34 distinct ion channel types, 17 biogenic amine and 5 GABA receptors, 28 major transmitter receptor subtypes including glutamate and acetylcholine receptors, and 6 gap junction proteins - the Innexins.
With this resource, crustacean model systems are better poised for incorporation of modern genomic and molecular biology technologies to further enhance the interrogation of fundamentals of nervous system function.
甲壳类动物作为神经系统功能的模型系统，已从单个神经元特性到行为进行了广泛研究。然而，分子序列信息和工具的缺乏减缓了这些生理系统作为分子模型系统的应用。在本研究中，我们对两种十足目甲壳类动物——乔纳蟹（北方黄道蟹）和美洲龙虾（美洲螯龙虾）的神经系统转录组进行了测序和从头组装。
分别从北方黄道蟹和美洲螯龙虾中组装出42766和60273个重叠群，代表9489和11061个独特的编码序列。从这些转录本中，鉴定并手动整理了与神经功能相关的基因，以对神经系统功能重要的多个基因家族进行表征。这包括34种不同离子通道类型、17种生物胺和5种GABA受体、28种主要递质受体亚型（包括谷氨酸和乙酰胆碱受体）以及6种间隙连接蛋白——内连蛋白的基因。
有了这个资源，甲壳类动物模型系统更有条件整合现代基因组学和分子生物学技术，以进一步加强对神经系统功能基本原理的探究。
