Research Report

Whole-Genome Analysis of Abalone Reveals Phylogenetic Relationships and Adaptive Evolution Mechanisms  

Xuelian Jiang1 , Manman Li2
1 Institute of Life Science, Jiyang College of Zhejiang A&F University, Zhuji, 311800, Zhejiang, China
2 Hainan Institute of Biotechnology, Haikou, 570206, Hainan, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Marine Science, 2025, Vol. 15, No. 1   
Received: 09 Dec., 2024    Accepted: 14 Jan., 2025    Published: 23 Jan., 2025
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This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract

Abalone (Haliotis) molluscs play an important role in marine biodiversity and aquaculture, but their phylogenetic relationships and adaptive evolutionary mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Whole genome sequencing in recent years has provided a new opportunity to study the systematic evolution and environmental adaptation of abalone. In this study, by comparing the whole genome data of multiple abalone species, we reconstructed the phylogenetic tree of the genus Abalone, estimated the divergence time, and analyzed the evolutionary characteristics of genome structure and function. The results showed that the abalone genome size ranged from 1.2 to 1.8 Gb, encoding approximately 20 000 to 30 000 genes, with a repetitive sequence ratio of nearly 50%. Positively selected genes related to temperature, salinity, and immunity were identified, as well as the expansion of specific gene families involved in shell formation and metabolic pathways. These adaptive genomic changes may explain the adaptation of abalone to different environments such as high latitudes and tropical waters. Taking the representative species of Japanese abalone, African abalone and Australian green abalone as examples, this study deeply analyzed the adaptive characteristics in their genomes, including cold-adapted immune genes, multiple heat-resistant genes and shell morphology-related selection signals, and discussed the application prospects of abalone whole genome research in germplasm protection, molecular breeding and stress resistance breeding. This study provides a new perspective at the genome level for understanding the phylogeny and environmental adaptation of abalone, and also provides a scientific basis for abalone resource protection and genetic improvement.

Keywords
Abalone; Whole genome; Phylogeny; Adaptive evolution; Genomic breeding
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