Abstract
The amphipod crustacean Parhyale hawaiensis is a blossoming model system for studies of developmental mechanisms and more recently regeneration. We have sequenced the genome allowing annotation of all key signaling pathways, transcription factors, and non-coding RNAs that will enhance ongoing functional studies. Parhyale is a member of the Malacostraca clade, which includes crustacean food crop species. We analysed the immunity related genes of Parhyale as an important comparative system for these species, where immunity related aquaculture problems have increased as farming has intensified. We also find that Parhyale and other species within Multicrustacea contain the enzyme sets necessary to perform lignocellulose digestion ('wood eating'), suggesting this ability may predate the diversification of this lineage. Our data provide an essential resource for further development of Parhyale as an experimental model. The first malacostracan genome will underpin ongoing comparative work in food crop species and research investigating lignocellulose as an energy source.
Highlights
Very few members of the Animal Kingdom hold the esteemed position of major model system for understanding living systems
Within the Transforming Growth Factor beta (TGF-b) signaling pathway we found 2 genes from the activin subfamily, 7 genes from the Bone Morphogen Protein (BMP) subfamily and 2 genes from the inhibin subfamily
Similar to D. melanogaster and the polychaete Platynereis dumerilii, we found that Parhyale mir-100 and let-7 are co-transcribed as a single, polycistronic long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA)
Summary
Very few members of the Animal Kingdom hold the esteemed position of major model system for understanding living systems. Developmental Biology and Stem Cells Genomics and Evolutionary Biology eLife digest The marine crustacean known as Parhyale hawaiensis is related to prawns, shrimps and crabs and is found at tropical coastlines around the world. This species has recently attracted scientific interest as a possible new model to study how animal embryos develop before birth and, because Parhyale can rapidly regrow lost limbs, how tissues and organs regenerate. Parhyale has many characteristics that make it a good model organism, being small, fast-growing and easy to keep and care for in the laboratory
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