A First Insight into the Genome of the Filter-Feeder Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

Mussels belong to the phylum Mollusca, one of the largest and most diverse taxa in the animal kingdom. Despite their importance in aquaculture and in biology in general, genomic resources from mussels are still scarce. To broaden and increase the genomic knowledge in this family, we carried out a whole-genome sequencing study of the cosmopolitan Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis). We sequenced its genome (32X depth of coverage) on the Illumina platform using three pair-end libraries with different insert sizes. The large number of contigs obtained pointed out a highly complex genome of 1.6 Gb where repeated elements seem to be widespread (similar to 30% of the genome), a feature that is also shared with other marine molluscs. Notwithstanding the limitations of our genome sequencing, we were able to reconstruct two mitochondrial genomes and predict 10,891 putative genes. A comparative analysis with other molluscs revealed a gene enrichment of gene ontology categories related to multixenobiotic resistance, glutamate biosynthetic process, and the maintenance of ciliary structures.