Genes, Vol. 15, Pages 249: De Novo Genome Assembly of the Whitespot Parrotfish (Scarus forsteni): A Valuable Scaridae Genomic Resource

In this study, a genome of S. forsteni was assembled de novo through using Illumina and Nanopore sequencing. The 1.71-Gb genome of S. forsteni, was assembled into 544 contigs (assembly level: contig). It exhibited an N50 length of 17.97 Mb and a GC content percentage of 39.32%. Our BUSCO analysis revealed that the complete protein of the S. forsteni genome had 98.10% integrity. Combined with structure annotation data, 34,140 (74.81%) genes were functionally annotated out of 45,638 predicted protein-coding genes. Upon comparing the genome size and TE content of teleost fishes, a roughly linear relationship was observed between these two parameters. However, TE content is not a decisive factor in determining the genome size of S. forsteni. Population history analysis results indicate that S. forsteni experienced two major population expansions, both of which occurred before the last interglacial period. In addition, through a comparative genomic analysis of the evolutionary relationship of other species, it was found that S. forsteni had the closest relationship with Cheilinus undulatus, another member of the Labridae family. Our expansion and contraction analysis of the gene family showed that the expansion genes were mainly associated with immune diseases, organismal systems, and cellular processes. At the same time, cell transcription and translation, sex hormone regulation, and other related pathways were also more prominent in the positive selection genes. The genomic sequ...
Source: Genes - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research