De novo characterization of the gene-rich transcriptomes of two color-polymorphic spiders, Theridion grallator and T. californicum (Araneae: Theridiidae), with special reference to pigment genes

被引：46

作者：

Croucher, Peter J. P. ^{[1
]}

Brewer, Michael S. ^{[1
]}

Winchell, Christopher J. ^{[2
]}

Oxford, Geoff S. ^{[3
]}

Gillespie, Rosemary G. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Environm Sci Policy & Management, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[2] Univ Calif Berkeley, Dept Mol & Cell Biol, Berkeley, CA 94720 USA

[3] Univ York, Dept Biol E019, York YO10 5DD, N Yorkshire, England

来源：

BMC GENOMICS | 2013年 / 14卷

基金：

美国国家科学基金会;

关键词：

Araneae; Spider; Color; Pigmentation; Polymorphism; Pteridine; Ommochrome; RNA-seq; cDNA; RNA-SEQ DATA; DROSOPHILA-MELANOGASTER; BIOCONDUCTOR PACKAGE; HEME OXYGENASE; WHITE GENE; EVOLUTION; EYE; SEQUENCE; ANNOTATION; EXPRESSION;

D O I：

10.1186/1471-2164-14-862

中图分类号：

Q81 [生物工程学（生物技术）]; Q93 [微生物学];

学科分类号：

071005 ; 0836 ; 090102 ; 100705 ;

摘要：

Background: A number of spider species within the family Theridiidae exhibit a dramatic abdominal (opisthosomal) color polymorphism. The polymorphism is inherited in a broadly Mendelian fashion and in some species consists of dozens of discrete morphs that are convergent across taxa and populations. Few genomic resources exist for spiders. Here, as a first necessary step towards identifying the genetic basis for this trait we present the near complete transcriptomes of two species: the Hawaiian happy-face spider Theridion grallator and Theridion californicum. We mined the gene complement for pigment-pathway genes and examined differential expression (DE) between morphs that are unpatterned (plain yellow) and patterned (yellow with superimposed patches of red, white or very dark brown). Results: By deep sequencing both RNA-seq and normalized cDNA libraries from pooled specimens of each species we were able to assemble a comprehensive gene set for both species that we estimate to be 98-99% complete. It is likely that these species express more than 20,000 protein-coding genes, perhaps 4.5% (ca. 870) of which might be unique to spiders. Mining for pigment-associated Drosophila melanogaster genes indicated the presence of all ommochrome pathway genes and most pteridine pathway genes and DE analyses further indicate a possible role for the pteridine pathway in theridiid color patterning. Conclusions: Based upon our estimates, T. grallator and T. californicum express a large inventory of protein-coding genes. Our comprehensive assembly illustrates the continuing value of sequencing normalized cDNA libraries in addition to RNA-seq in order to generate a reference transcriptome for non-model species. The identification of pteridine-related genes and their possible involvement in color patterning is a novel finding in spiders and one that suggests a biochemical link between guanine deposits and the pigments exhibited by these species.

引用

页数：18