Liaoning Key Laboratory of Marine Animal Immunology, Dalian Ocean University, Dalian 116023, China.
Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI Academy of Marine Sciences, BGI Marine, BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
Mar Drugs. 2020 Mar 31;18(4):185. doi: 10.3390/md18040185.
The world-famous Antarctic krill () plays a fundamental role in the Antarctic food chain. It resides in cold environments with the most abundant biomass to support the Antarctic ecology and fisheries. Here, we performed the first genome survey of the Antarctic krill, with genomic evidence for its estimated genome size of 42.1 gigabases (Gb). Such a large genome, however, is beyond our present capability to obtain a good assembly, although our sequencing data are a valuable genetic resource for subsequent polar biomedical research. We extracted 13 typical protein-coding gene sequences of the mitochondrial genome and analyzed simple sequence repeats (SSRs), which are useful for species identification and origin determination. Meanwhile, we conducted a high-throughput comparative identification of putative antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and antihypertensive peptides (AHTPs) from whole-body transcriptomes of the Antarctic krill and its well-known counterpart, the whiteleg shrimp (; resident in warm waters). Related data revealed that AMPs/AMP precursors and AHTPs were generally conserved, with interesting variations between the two crustacean species. In summary, as the first report of estimated genome size of the Antarctic krill, our present genome survey data provide a foundation for further biological research into this polar species. Our preliminary investigations on bioactive peptides will bring a new perspective for the in-depth development of novel marine drugs.
举世闻名的南极磷虾（）在南极食物链中起着至关重要的作用。它生活在寒冷的环境中，拥有最丰富的生物量，支撑着南极的生态系统和渔业。在这里，我们首次对南极磷虾进行了基因组调查，有基因组证据表明其估计的基因组大小为 421 亿碱基对（Gb）。然而，如此大的基因组超出了我们目前获得良好组装的能力，尽管我们的测序数据是后续极地生物医学研究的宝贵遗传资源。我们提取了线粒体基因组的 13 个典型蛋白编码基因序列，并分析了简单重复序列（SSR），这对于物种鉴定和起源确定很有用。同时，我们从南极磷虾及其知名的同类——白对虾（；生活在温暖的水中）的全身转录组中进行了高通量的抗菌肽（AMPs）和抗高血压肽（AHTPs）的比较鉴定。相关数据表明，AMPs/AMP 前体和 AHTPs 通常是保守的，这两种甲壳类动物之间存在有趣的变异。总之，作为南极磷虾估计基因组大小的首次报告，我们目前的基因组调查数据为进一步对这一极地物种进行生物学研究提供了基础。我们对生物活性肽的初步研究将为深入开发新型海洋药物带来新的视角。
