Gene discovery in the threatened elkhorn coral: 454 sequencing of the Acropora palmata transcriptome.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cnidarians, including corals and anemones, offer unique insights into metazoan evolution because they harbor genetic similarities with vertebrates beyond that found in model invertebrates and retain genes known only from non-metazoans. Cataloging genes expressed in Acropora palmata, a foundation-species of reefs in the Caribbean and western Atlantic, will advance our understanding of the genetic basis of ecologically important traits in corals and comes at a time when sequencing efforts in other cnidarians allow for multi-species comparisons.

Results

A cDNA library from a sample enriched for symbiont free larval tissue was sequenced on the 454 GS-FLX platform. Over 960,000 reads were obtained and assembled into 42,630 contigs. Annotation data was acquired for 57%

SUBMITTER: Polato NR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3247206 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature