De novo transcriptome assembly and annotation of the common freshwater amphipod (Gammarus pulex) a valuable resource for ecotoxicogenomics

This study presents de novo transcriptome assemblies for Gammarus pulex, a freshwater amphipod widely used in ecotoxicology due to its ecological importance and sensitivity to pollution. Specimens were collected from 13 river sites in Germany and Sweden, encompassing a gradient of micropollutant exposure. Using high-throughput RNA sequencing, we generated transcriptomes for German, Swedish, and combined populations. The assemblies yielded up to 170,000 transcripts with strong metrics, including N50 values over 1,500 base pairs and completeness scores approaching 89%. Functional annotation revealed over 123,000 unique protein hits, nearly 99,000 BLASTx matches, and approximately 30,000 annotated KEGG pathways. We also identified thousands of conserved domains, signal peptides, and transmembrane proteins. These comprehensive resources provide valuable molecular insight into the stress responses of Gammarus pulex and will facilitate the development of gene-based biomarkers for freshwater monitoring. By improving the molecular toolkit for this key sentinel species, our study supports broader applications of ecotoxicogenomics in environmental assessment and conservation.