Comprehensive comparison of four species of Onchidiidae provides insights on morphological and molecular adaptations of invertebrates from shallow seas to wetlands
- Published
- Accepted
- Subject Areas
- Aquaculture, Fisheries and Fish Science, Evolutionary Studies, Marine Biology
- Keywords
- Onchidiidae, morphological characteristics, transcriptome sequencing, single nucleotide polymorphism loci, gene expression
- Copyright
- © 2017 Xu et al.
- Licence
- This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ Preprints) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
- Cite this article
- 2017. Comprehensive comparison of four species of Onchidiidae provides insights on morphological and molecular adaptations of invertebrates from shallow seas to wetlands. PeerJ Preprints 5:e3431v1 https://doi.org/10.7287/peerj.preprints.3431v1
Abstract
Background.The Onchidiidae family provides ideal species of marine invertebrates for the study of the evolution from seas to wetlands. However, different species of Onchidiidae have rarely been considered in comparative studies.
Methods.A total of 40 samples were collected from four species (10 specimens per onchidiid). In addition, we systematically investigated the histological and molecular differences to elucidate the morphological foundations underlying these adaptations.
Results.Histological analysis enabled the structural comparison of respiratory organs (gill, lung-sac, dorsal skin) among onchidiids. Transcriptome sequencing of four representative onchidiids was performed to further expound the molecular mechanisms with their respective habitats. Twenty-six Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers of Onchidium struma presented the DNA polymorphism determining some visible genetic traits. Non-muscle myosin heavy chain II (NMHC II) and myosin heavy chain (MyHC) played an essential role in amphibian developmental processes and are expressed differentially invarious onchidiids and tissues. The species with higher terrestrial ability and higher integrated expression of Os-MHC (NMHC II gene) and MyHC gene illustrated the expression level associated with the evolutionary degree.
Conclusions.The present study indicates that different adaptions occurred in four species in various environments.We hope to provide a valuable reference point and a source of inspiration for amphibian investigatorsstudying the morphological characteristics and molecular mechanisms underlying the transition of invertebrates from shallow seas to wetlands.
Author Comment
This is a submission to PeerJ for review.