Draft genome assembly and transcriptome data of the icefish Chionodraco myersi reveal the key role of mitochondria for a life without hemoglobin at subzero temperatures.

ABSTRACT: Antarctic fish belonging to Notothenioidei represent an extraordinary example of radiation in the cold. In addition to the absence of hemoglobin, icefish show a number of other striking peculiarities including large-diameter blood vessels, high vascular densities, mitochondria-rich muscle cells, and unusual mitochondrial architecture. In order to investigate the bases of icefish adaptation to the extreme Southern Ocean conditions we sequenced the complete genome of the icefish Chionodraco myersi. Comparative analyses of the icefish genome with those of other teleost species, including two additional white-blooded and five red-blooded notothenioids, provided a new perspective on the evolutionary loss of globin genes. Muscle transcriptome comparative analyses against red-blooded notot

SUBMITTER: Bargelloni L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6884616 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature