Chromosome-level genome assembly of freshwater pearl mussel, Hyriopsis
cumingii, provides insights into outstanding biomineralization ability
Abstract
China is the largest producer of pearls, accounted for over 90% of
world’s total pearl production. The triangle sail mussel (Hyriopsis
cumingii), the most important species for freshwater pearl culture in
China, is a well-known mussel recognized for pearl production with high
yield and quality. Here, we reported a high-quality chromosome-level
genome assembly of H. cumingii. The size of assembled genome was as
large as 3.38 Gb with a scaffold N50 length of 3.19 Mb, and 2.04 Gb
genome sequences were anchored onto 19 linkage groups. A total of 37,681
protein-coding genes and 50.86% of repeat elements were predicted and
annotated. The expansive of 752 gene families compared to the most
closely related Dreissena rostriformis, with a divergence time of 18.5
million years, might reveal an extensive set of genes associated to
biomineralization, of which 237 genes were under strong positive
selection in H. cumingii genome. Notably, the fibrillin gene family
exhibited expansion and positive selection simultaneously, and multiple
high expression after mantle implantation, suggesting the reason for
outstanding biomineralization ability of H. cumingii. Furthermore, one
fibrillin gene was confirmed as involving in deposition of calcium
carbonate and formation of amorphous crystal during initial
biomineralization based on RNA silencing and In vitro carbonate calcium
crystallization assay. Fibrillin genes also diverse our attention from
calcium deposition guided by matrix protein to interlamellar membrane
configuration for understanding pearl formation. These findings provide
a valuable genomic resource for carbonate biomineralization studies and
fill the gap on freshwater mussel genome for evolutionary studies.