RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 The quagga mussel genome and the evolution of freshwater tolerance
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 505305
DO 10.1101/505305
A1 Andrew D. Calcino
A1 André Luiz de Oliveira
A1 Oleg Simakov
A1 Thomas Schwaha
A1 Elisabeth Zieger
A1 Tim Wollesen
A1 Andreas Wanninger
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/12/23/505305.abstract
AB European freshwater dreissenid mussels evolved from marine ancestors during the Miocene approximately 30 million years ago and today include some of the most successful and destructive invasive invertebrate species of temperate freshwater environments. Here we sequenced the genome of the quagga mussel Dreissena rostriformis to identify evolutionary adaptations involved in embryonic osmoregulation. We found high gene expression levels of a novel subfamily of lophotrochozoan-specific aquaporin water channel, a vacuolar ATPase and a sodium/hydrogen exchanger during early cleavage, a period defined by the formation of inter-cellular fluid-filled ‘cleavage cavities’. Independent expansions of the lophotrochoaquaporin clade that coincide with at least five independent colonisation events of freshwater environments confirm their central role in freshwater adaptation. The pattern of repeated aquaporin expansion and the evolution of membrane-bound fluid-filled osmoregulatory structures in diverse taxa points to a fundamental principle guiding the evolution of freshwater tolerance that may provide a framework for future efforts towards invasive species control.