New genomic study provides a glimpse of how whales could adapt to ocean

(Press-News.org) Contact information: Jia Liu
liujia@genomics.cn
BGI Shenzhen
New genomic study provides a glimpse of how whales could adapt to ocean The latest study was published online in Nature Genetics November 24, 2013, Shenzhen, China - In a paper published in Nature Genetics, researchers from Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, Korea Genome Research Foundation, BGI, and other institutes presented the first high-depth minke whale genome and their new findings on how whales successfully adapted to ocean environment. The data yielded in this study will contribute to future studies of marine mammal diseases, conservation and evolution.

Whales roam throughout all of the world's oceans, living in the water but breathing air like humans. At the top of the food chain, whales are vital to the health of the marine environment, whereas 7 out of the 13 great whale species are endangered or vulnerable. The minke whale is the most abundant baleen whale. Its wide distribution makes it an ideal candidate for whole reference genome sequencing.

In this study, researchers conducted de novo sequencing on a minke whale with 128x average depth of coverage, and re-sequenced three minke whales, a fin whale (Balaenoptera physalus), a bottlenose dolphin, and a finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides). The yielded data may help to improve scientists' understanding of the evolutionary changes adapted to ocean environment from whole genome level.

The adaptation of whale to ocean life was notably marked by resistance to physiological stresses caused by a lack of oxygen, increased reactive oxygen species, and high salt level. In this study, researchers investigated a number of whale-specific genes that were strongly associated with stress resistance, such as the peroxiredoxin (PRDX) family, O-linked N-acetylglucosaminylation (O-GlcNAcylation). The results revealed that the gene families associated with stress-responsive proteins and anaerobic metabolism were expanded.

Perhaps the most dramatic environmental adaptation for a whale is deep diving, which can induce hypoxia. Under the hypoxic conditions, the body might produce more reactive oxygen species (ROS), harmful compounds that can damage DNA. Glutathione is a well-known antioxidant that prevents damage to important cellular components by ROS. In this study, researchers provided evidence to support that there is an increased ratio of reduced glutathione/glutathione disulfide when suffering hypoxic or oxidative stress.

Minke whales and other Mysticeti whale species grow baleen instead of teeth. It's previously reported that the genes ENAM, MMP, and AMEL might play a role in tooth enamel formation and biomineralization. This study showed that these genes may be pseudogenes with early stop codons in the baleen whales. In addition, researchers found that the gene families related to whale's body hair and sensory receptors were contracted, such as Keratin-related gene families associated with hair formation, several Hox genes that play an important role in the body plan and embryonic development.

Xuanmin Guang, project manager from BGI, said, "Minke whale is the first marine mammal that has been sequenced with such high-depth genome coverage. The genome data not only can help us know much more about the adaption mechanisms underlying minke whale, but also provides invaluable resource for marine mammal's future studies such as diseases control and prevention, species conservation,and protection."

### About BGI BGI was founded in 1999 with the mission of being a premier scientific partner to the global research community. The goal of BGI is to make leading-edge genomic science highly accessible through its investment in infrastructure that leverages the best available technology, economies of scale, and expert bioinformatics resources. BGI, which includes both private non-profit genomic research institutes and sequencing application commercial units, and its affiliates, BGI Americas, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and BGI Europe, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, have established partnerships and collaborations with leading academic and government research institutions as well as global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, supporting a variety of disease, agricultural, environmental, and related applications.

BGI has established a proven track record of excellence, delivering results with high efficiency and accuracy for innovative, high-profile research which has generated over 250 publications in top-tier journals such as Nature and Science. These accomplishments include sequencing one percent of the human genome for the International Human Genome Project, contributing 10 percent to the International Human HapMap Project, carrying out research to combat SARS and German deadly E. coli, playing a key role in the Sino-British Chicken Genome Project, and completing the sequence of the rice genome, the silkworm genome, the first Asian diploid genome, the potato genome, and, most recently, have sequenced the human Gut metagenome, and a significant proportion of the genomes for 1,000 genomes. For more information about BGI please visit http://www.genomics.cn.

Contact Information: Bicheng Yang, Ph.D.
Public Communication Officer
BGI+86-755-82639701yangbicheng@genomics.cn
http://www.genomics.cn