Sequencing De Novo Assembly and Annotation of the Transcriptome of the Endangered Freshwater Pearl Bivalve Cristaria plicata Provides Novel Insights into Functional Genes and Marker Discovery

摘要

BackgroundThe freshwater mussel Cristaria plicata (Bivalvia: Eulamellibranchia: Unionidae), is an economically important species in molluscan aquaculture due to its use in pearl farming. The species have been listed as endangered in South Korea due to the loss of natural habitats caused by anthropogenic activities. The decreasing population and a lack of genomic information on the species is concerning for environmentalists and conservationists. In this study, we conducted a de novo transcriptome sequencing and annotation analysis of C. plicata using Illumina HiSeq 2500 next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, the Trinity assembler, and bioinformatics databases to prepare a sustainable resource for the identification of candidate genes involved in immunity, defense, and reproduction.