Liu Hongguang, Wang Xiaokun, Liu Zeyu, Li Shuqiang, Hou Zhonge
State Key Laboratory of Animal Biodiversity Conservation and Integrated Pest Management, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100101 China.
School of Life Sciences, Hebei University, Baoding, 071002 China.
Mar Life Sci Technol. 2025 May 15;7(2):205-217. doi: 10.1007/s42995-025-00298-6. eCollection 2025 May.
The sea-land transition is one of the most dramatic evolutionary changes and requires an adaptive genetic response to salinity changes and osmotic stress. Here, we used multi-species genomes and multi-tissue transcriptomes of the talitrid crustaceans, a living sea-land transition model, to investigate the adaptive genetic changes and osmoregulatory organs that facilitated their salinity adaptation. Genomic analyses detected numerous osmoregulatory genes in terrestrial talitrids undergoing gene family expansions and positive selection. Gene expression comparisons among species and tissues confirmed the gill being the primary organ responsible for ion transport and identified the genetic expression variation that enable talitrids to adapt to marine and land habitats. V-type H-ATPases related to H transport play a crucial role in land adaptations, while genes related to the transport of inorganic ions (Na, K, Cl) are upregulated in marine habitats. Our results demonstrate that talitrids have divergent genetic responses to salinity change that led to the uptake or excretion of ions in the gills and promoted habitat adaptation. These findings suggest that detecting gene expression changes in talitrids presents promising potential as a biomarker for salinity monitoring.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42995-025-00298-6.
海陆过渡是最显著的进化变化之一，需要对盐度变化和渗透胁迫做出适应性的基因响应。在此，我们利用潮虫亚目甲壳动物（一种现存的海陆过渡模型）的多物种基因组和多组织转录组，来研究促进其盐度适应的适应性基因变化和渗透调节器官。基因组分析在经历基因家族扩张和正选择的陆生潮虫中检测到大量渗透调节基因。物种和组织间的基因表达比较证实鳃是负责离子运输的主要器官，并确定了使潮虫能够适应海洋和陆地栖息地的基因表达变异。与质子运输相关的V型H⁺-ATP酶在陆地适应中起关键作用，而与无机离子（钠、钾、氯）运输相关的基因在海洋栖息地中上调。我们的结果表明，潮虫对盐度变化有不同的基因响应，导致鳃中离子的摄取或排泄，并促进了栖息地适应。这些发现表明，检测潮虫的基因表达变化作为盐度监测的生物标志物具有广阔的潜力。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s42995-025-00298-6获取的补充材料。
