Chromosome-level genome assemblies of two littorinid marine snails indicate genetic basis of intertidal adaptation and ancient karyotype evolved from bilaterian ancestors.

Abstract

Living in the intertidal environment, littorinid snails are excellent models for understanding genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation to harsh fluctuating environments. Furthermore, the karyotypes of littorinid snails, with the same chromosome number as the presumed bilaterian ancestor, make them valuable for investigating karyotype evolution from the bilaterian ancestor to mollusks. Here, we generated high-quality, chromosome-scale genome assemblies for 2 littorinid marine snails, Littorina brevicula (927.94 Mb) and Littoraria sinensis (882.51 Mb), with contig N50 of 3.43 Mb and 2.31 Mb, respectively. Comparative genomic analyses identified 92 expanded gene families and 85 positively selected genes as potential candidates possibly associated with intertidal adaptation in the littorinid lineage, which were functionally enriched in stimulus responses, innate immunity, and apoptosis process regulation and might be involved in cellular homeostasis maintenance in stressful intertidal environments. Genome macrosynteny analyses indicated that 4 fissions and 4 fusions led to the evolution from the 17 presumed bilaterian ancestral chromosomes to the 17 littorinid chromosomes, implying that the littorinid snails have a highly conserved karyotype with the bilaterian ancestor. Based on the most parsimonious reconstruction of the common ancestral karyotype of scallops and littorinid snails, 3 chromosomal fissions and 1 chromosomal fusion from the bilaterian ancient linkage groups were shared by the bivalve scallop and gastropoda littorinid snails, indicating that the chromosome-scale ancient gene linkages were generally preserved in the mollusk genomes for over 500 million years. The highly conserved karyotype makes the littorinid snail genomes valuable resources for understanding early bilaterian evolution and biology.