Genomic Survey and Resources for the Boring Giant Clam Tridacna crocea

The boring giant clam Tridacna crocea is an evolutionary, ecologically, economically, and culturally important reef-dwelling bivalve targeted by a profitable ornamental fishery in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. In this study, we developed genomic resources for T. crocea. Using low-pass (=low-coverage, similar to 6x) short read sequencing, this study, for the first time, estimated the genome size, unique genome content, and nuclear repetitive elements, including the 45S rRNA DNA operon, in T. crocea. Furthermore, we tested if the mitochondrial genome can be assembled from RNA sequencing data. The haploid genome size estimated using a k-mer strategy was 1.31-1.39 Gbp, which is well within the range reported before for other members of the family Cardiidae. Unique genome content estimates using different k-mers indicated that nearly a third and probably at least 50% of the genome of T. crocea was composed of repetitive elements. A large portion of repetitive sequences could not be assigned to known repeat element families. Taking into consideration only annotated repetitive elements, the most common were classified as Satellite DNA which were more common than Class I-LINE and Class I-LTR Ty3-gypsy retrotransposon elements. The nuclear ribosomal operon in T. crocea was partially assembled into two contigs, one encoding the complete ssrDNA and 5.8S rDNA unit and a second comprising a partial lsrDNA. A nearly complete mitochondrial genome (92%) was assembled from RNA-seq. These newly developed genomic resources are highly relevant for improving our understanding of the biology of T. crocea and for the development of conservation plans and the fisheries management of this iconic reef-dwelling invertebrate.

Automated summary

In this study, the researchers estimated the genome size and unique genome content of the giant clam Tridacna crocea using low-pass short read sequencing. They also attempted to assemble the mitochondrial genome from RNA sequencing data. Additionally, they partially assembled the nuclear ribosomal operon and identified common repetitive elements in the genome of T. crocea. These genomic resources are important for understanding the biology and conservation of this reef-dwelling invertebrate.