Meeting Abstract

109.4  Tuesday, Jan. 7 08:45  A Tale of Two Hydractinia Genomes: Comparative Genomics of Two Sister Hydrozoan Species SCHNITZLER, CE*; SANDERS, SM; PLICKERT, G; SEOIGHE, C; BUSS, L; WOLFSBERG, TG; NICOTRA, M; MULLIKIN, JC; CARTWRIGHT, P; FRANK, U; BAXEVANIS, AD; NHGRI, NIH; University of Kansas; University of Cologne, Germany; National University of Ireland, Galway; Yale University; NHGRI, NIH; University of Pittsburgh; NIH Intramural Sequencing Center; University of Kansas; National University of Ireland, Galway; NHGRI, NIH christine.schnitzler@nih.gov

Hydractinia is a hydrozoan cnidarian that has lost the medusa stage and produces gametes directly from polyps known as gonozooids. Hydractinia forms colonies of clonal polyps interconnected through a stolonal mat and, in nature, is typically found on shells inhabited by hermit crabs. Members of the genus Hydractinia can regenerate all tissues throughout their lives thanks to the constant turnover of pluripotent stem cells. These animals are also able to distinguish between themselves and other members of their species based on cell-cell contact, a phenomenon called allorecognition. H. echinata is amenable to transgenesis and gene knockdown studies. Thus, they show great promise as experimental models. We have sequenced and assembled the genomes of H. echinata and its sister species, H. symbiolongicarpus. The assemblies are based on a combination of Illumina and Roche 454 GS FLX+ sequencing data at high coverage. We have also assembled the transcriptomes of both species using Illumina sequencing data, as a first step towards comprehensive annotation of these genomes. We are using a comparative genomics approach to assess the gene content of these two genomes and have begun to characterize genes controlling development, the allorecognition complex, and the pluripotency gene regulatory network. With complete, high-quality genomic data, these organisms are now well-positioned for their use in functional studies targeting a wide variety of biological questions.