A genome resource for the marine annelid Platynereis spp
The marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii is a model organism used in many research areas including evolution and development, neurobiology, ecology and regeneration. Here we present the genomes of P. dumerilii (laboratory culture reference and a single individual assembly) and of the closely related P. massiliensis and P. megalops (single individual assembly) to facilitate comparative genomic approaches and help explore Platynereis biology. We used long-read sequencing technology and chromosomal-conformation capture along with extensive transcriptomic resources to obtain and annotate a draft genome assembly of ~ 1.47 Gbp for P. dumerilii, of which more than half represent repeat elements. We predict around 29,000 protein-coding genes, with relatively large intron sizes, over 38,000 non-coding genes, and 105 miRNA loci. We further explore the high genetic variation (~ 3% heterozygosity) within the Platynereis species complex. Gene ontology reveals the most variable loci to be associated with pigmentation, development and immunity. The current work sets the stage for further development of Platynereis genomic resources.
Authors
- Mette Handberg-Thorsager (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3908-7233)
- Kevin Nzumbi Mutemi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6426-2363)
- Emily L. Savage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3391-7571)
- Detlev Arendt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7833-050X)
- Conrad Helm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0308-8402)
- Eve Gazave (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4647-6640)
- Oleg Simakov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3585-4511)
- Pavel Tomančák (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2222-9370)
- Kevin J. Peterson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6780-0964)
- Vladimı́r Beneš (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0352-2547)
- Bastian Fromm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0352-3037)
- Leslie Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2408-4259)
- Ryan W. Null (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3830-4152)
- Michel Vervoort (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5995-2140)
- Rajna Hercog (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2587-9739)
- Bruno C. Vellutini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0000-9465)
- Jerome H. L. Hui (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1355-8495)
- B. Duygu Özpolat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1900-965X)
- Jan Provazník (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1104-1169)
- Wenhua Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5208-8126)
- Sylke Winkler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0915-3316)
- Diana Ordoñez‐Rueda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8387-6707)
- Mireia Osuna Lopez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7724-444X)
- Nayara Azevedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9780-2939)
- Luca Santangeli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9600-6164)
- Tomas Larsson
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- Uppsala University (SE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Vienna (AT)
- Marine Biological Laboratory (US)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- German Cancer Research Center (DE)
- Saint Louis University (ES)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- Science for Life Laboratory (SE)
- Institut Jacques Monod (FR)
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (DE)
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory (DE)
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (DE)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- BMC Genomics
- Published
- 2025-07-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11727-2
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Marine Ecology and Invasive Species
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 5.53
Funders
- European Molecular Biology Laboratory
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- National Institutes of Health