PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anna Marcionetti
AU  - Victor Rossier
AU  - Joris A. M. Bertrand
AU  - Glenn Litsios
AU  - Nicolas Salamin
TI  - First draft genome assembly of an iconic clownfish species (<em>Amphiprion frenatus</em>)
AID  - 10.1101/205443
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 205443
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/10/18/205443.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/10/18/205443.full
AB  - Clownfishes (or anemonefishes) form an iconic group of coral reef fishes, particularly known for their mutualistic interaction with sea anemones. They are characterized by particular life history traits, such as a complex social structure and mating system involving sequential hermaphroditism, coupled with an exceptionally long lifespan. Additionally, clownfishes are considered to be one of the rare group to have experienced an adaptive radiation in the marine environment.Here, we assembled and annotated the first genome of a clownfish species, the tomato clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus). We obtained a total of 17,801 assembled scaffolds, containing a total of 26,917 genes. The completeness of the assembly and annotation was satisfying, with 96.5% of the Actinopterygii BUSCOs (Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs) being retrieved in A. frenatus assembly. The quality of the resulting assembly is comparable to other bony fish assemblies.This resource is valuable for the advancing of studies of the particular life-history traits of clownfishes, as well as being useful for population genetic studies and the development of new phylogenetic markers. It will also open the way to comparative genomics. Indeed, future genomic comparison among closely related fishes may provide means to identify genes related to the unique adaptations to different sea anemone hosts, as well as better characterize the genomic signatures of an adaptive radiation.