Gene Family Evolution Reflects Adaptation to Soil Environmental Stressors in the Genome of the Collembolan Orchesella cincta.

ABSTRACT: Collembola (springtails) are detritivorous hexapods that inhabit the soil and its litter layer. The ecology of the springtail Orchesella cincta is extensively studied in the context of adaptation to anthropogenically disturbed areas. Here, we present a draft genome of an O. cincta reference strain with an estimated size of 286.8 Mbp, containing 20,249 genes. In total, 446 gene families are expanded and 1,169 gene families evolved specific to this lineage. Besides these gene families involved in general biological processes, we observe gene clusters participating in xenobiotic biotransformation. Furthermore, we identified 253 cases of horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Although the largest percentage of them originated from bacteria (37.5%), we observe an unusually high percentage (30.4%) of s

SUBMITTER: Faddeeva-Vakhrusheva A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4987106 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature