Research Progress in Area 1 方向 ( 一 ) 課題進展 79 Abstract The Anguillid eel is a valuable aquaculture species and an important delicacy in Japanese cuisine. Lower growth and survival rates of larvae and the lack of knowledge on sex determination of juvenile eels impose difficulties in transforming artificial breading into sustainable large-scale practices. Advancements in genome sequencing techniques allow the investigation of fundamental evolutionary questions that have not been fully resolved. Eels are one of the first groups separated from the majority of the teleost fishes after the 3rd round of whole genome duplication (WGD). The comparison of eels with other teleosts will shed light on fish evolution. Using the Japanese eel, Prof. Wong aims to produce a high-quality contiguous reference genome sequence through significantly improved gene annotation and assembly gap closure. Highresolution comparative analysis of representative Anguilla species at a varying evolutionary distance from other geographical clades will be performed to identify synteny blocks, compare genetics and structural variations, and uncover phylogenetic relationships. They will also characterize the sex-determination mechanism of the fish. This study will provide the underlying genetic basis of Anguilla species to expedite a genome-wide DNA identification platform for molecular breeding in aquaculture and conservation to facilitate the recovery of eel populations. Research Activities and Progress • Develop a HybridLink pipeline and complete the genome assembly and annotation of a female Japanese eel; • Construction of ancestral teleost/eel karyotype, phylogenetic tree and demographic history; • Identification of recent duplication of tandemduplicated and proximal-duplicated genes; • Library preparation of a male eel genome, awaiting for HiFi-sequencing; • In the process of preparing gonadal RNA samples from immature, male, and female fish, awaiting for RNA-seq. Key Findings The completeness of Anguilla japonica gene by BUSCO assessment Complete BUSCOs(C) 3446 (94.7%) Complete and singlecopy BUSCOs(S) 3136 (86.2%) Complete and duplicated BUSCOs(D) 310 (8.5%) Fragmented BUSCOs(F) 50 (1.4%) Missing BUSCOs(M) 144 (3.9%) Total Lineage BUSCOs 3640 (100%) Research Output Publication 1 Trained personnel 2 High-Resolution Genome Assembly and Characterization of Sex Determination Mechanism in the Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica Prof. Chris Kong Chu Wong Hong Kong Baptist University
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