Abstract
The Kryptolebias marmoratus is unique because it is the only self-fertilizing hermaphroditic vertebrate, known to date. It primarily reproduces by internal self-fertilization in a mixed ovary/testis gonad. Here, we report on a high-quality genome assembly for the K. marmoratus South Korea (SK) strain highlighting the diversity and distribution of transposable elements (TEs). We find that K. marmoratus genome maintains number and composition of TEs. This can be an important genomic attribute promoting genome recombination in this selfing fish, while, in addition to a mixed mating strategy, it may also represent a mechanism contributing to the evolutionary adaptation to ecological pressure of the species. Future work should help clarify this point further once genomic information is gathered for other taxa of the family Rivulidae that do not self-fertilize. We provide a valuable genome resource that highlights the potential impact of TEs on the genome evolution of a fish species with an uncommon life cycle.
Highlights
The Kryptolebias marmoratus is unique because it is the only self-fertilizing hermaphroditic vertebrate, known to date
The genome assembly of the Reckley Hill Lake (RHL) strain of mangrove killifish resulted in 7,929 scaffolds ( > 10 kb) with N50 length of 112 kb[21]
transposable elements (TEs) sequence divergence relative to TE consensus sequences shows a peak at about 20% for mangrove killifish, while for the other studied fish species the divergence rate peak is lower (Fig. 3), providing a clear indication that the mangrove killifish has more diverged copies of TEs
Summary
The Kryptolebias marmoratus is unique because it is the only self-fertilizing hermaphroditic vertebrate, known to date. It primarily reproduces by internal self-fertilization in a mixed ovary/testis gonad. Reproduction by selfing is a common phenomenon in plants and many hermaphroditic invertebrates, but it has not been detected in vertebrates[1] except for the extraordinary mangrove killifishes (Kryptolebias marmoratus and closely related forms). This species routinely reproduces by self-fertilization[2,3]. A restriction site-associated DNA (RAD)-seq linkage map was made from a hybrid between these strains
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