The seahorse genome and the evolution of its specialized morphology

Qiang Lin, Shaohua Fan, Yanhong Zhang, Meng Xu, Huixian Zhang, Yulan Yang, Alison P. Lee, Joost M. Woltering, Vydianathan Ravi, Helen M. Gunter, Wei Luo, Zexia Gao, Zhi Wei Lim, Geng Qin, Ralf F. Schneider, Xin Wang, Peiwen Xiong, Gang Li, Kai Wang, Jiumeng Min, Chi Zhang, Ying Qiu, Jie Bai, Weiming He, Chao Bian, Xinhui Zhang, Dai Shan, Hongyue Qu, Ying Sun, Qiang Gao, Liangmin Huang, Qiong Shi (), Axel Meyer () and Byrappa Venkatesh ()
Additional contact information
Qiang Lin: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shaohua Fan: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Yanhong Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Meng Xu: BGI-Shenzhen
Huixian Zhang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yulan Yang: BGI-Shenzhen
Alison P. Lee: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Joost M. Woltering: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Vydianathan Ravi: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Helen M. Gunter: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Wei Luo: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zexia Gao: College of Fisheries, Huazhong Agricultural University
Zhi Wei Lim: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Geng Qin: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ralf F. Schneider: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Xin Wang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Peiwen Xiong: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Gang Li: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Kai Wang: School of Agriculture, Ludong University
Jiumeng Min: BGI-Shenzhen
Chi Zhang: BGI-Shenzhen
Ying Qiu: Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI
Jie Bai: Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI
Weiming He: BGI-Shenzhen
Chao Bian: Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI
Xinhui Zhang: Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI
Dai Shan: BGI-Shenzhen
Hongyue Qu: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ying Sun: Shenzhen Key Lab of Marine Genomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Lab of Molecular Breeding in Marine Economic Animals, BGI
Qiang Gao: BGI-Shenzhen
Liangmin Huang: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Qiong Shi: CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Axel Meyer: Chair in Zoology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Konstanz
Byrappa Venkatesh: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

Nature, 2016, vol. 540, issue 7633, 395-399

Abstract: Abstract Seahorses have a specialized morphology that includes a toothless tubular mouth, a body covered with bony plates, a male brood pouch, and the absence of caudal and pelvic fins. Here we report the sequencing and de novo assembly of the genome of the tiger tail seahorse, Hippocampus comes. Comparative genomic analysis identifies higher protein and nucleotide evolutionary rates in H. comes compared with other teleost fish genomes. We identified an astacin metalloprotease gene family that has undergone expansion and is highly expressed in the male brood pouch. We also find that the H. comes genome lacks enamel matrix protein-coding proline/glutamine-rich secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein genes, which might have led to the loss of mineralized teeth. tbx4, a regulator of hindlimb development, is also not found in H. comes genome. Knockout of tbx4 in zebrafish showed a ‘pelvic fin-loss’ phenotype similar to that of seahorses.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1038/nature20595

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