Sequencing of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) genome provides insights into vertebrate evolution
Smith JJ., Kuraku S., Holt C., Sauka-Spengler T., Jiang N., Campbell MS., Yandell MD., Manousaki T., Meyer A., Bloom OE., Morgan JR., Buxbaum JD., Sachidanandam R., Sims C., Garruss AS., Cook M., Krumlauf R., Wiedemann LM., Sower SA., Decatur WA., Hall JA., Amemiya CT., Saha NR., Buckley KM., Rast JP., Das S., Hirano M., McCurley N., Guo P., Rohner N., Tabin CJ., Piccinelli P., Elgar G., Ruffier M., Aken BL., Searle SMJ., Muffato M., Pignatelli M., Herrero J., Jones M., Brown CT., Chung-Davidson YW., Nanlohy KG., Libants SV., Yeh CY., McCauley DW., Langeland JA., Pancer Z., Fritzsch B., De Jong PJ., Zhu B., Fulton LL., Theising B., Flicek P., Bronner ME., Warren WC., Clifton SW., Wilson RK., Li W.
Lampreys are representatives of an ancient vertebrate lineage that diverged from our own ∼500 million years ago. By virtue of this deeply shared ancestry, the sea lamprey (P. marinus) genome is uniquely poised to provide insight into the ancestry of vertebrate genomes and the underlying principles of vertebrate biology. Here, we present the first lamprey whole-genome sequence and assembly. We note challenges faced owing to its high content of repetitive elements and GC bases, as well as the absence of broad-scale sequence information from closely related species. Analyses of the assembly indicate that two whole-genome duplications likely occurred before the divergence of ancestral lamprey and gnathostome lineages. Moreover, the results help define key evolutionary events within vertebrate lineages, including the origin of myelin-associated proteins and the development of appendages. The lamprey genome provides an important resource for reconstructing vertebrate origins and the evolutionary events that have shaped the genomes of extant organisms.