The Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on the 16th that its researchers had successfully completed the genome sequencing and assembly of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus for the first time in the world. This research result is of great scientific significance for the study of the biology and genetic breeding of Apostichopus japonicus, and will help promote the development of China's Apostichopus japonicus industry.

According to reports, this result was jointly completed by the research team led by Yang Hongsheng and Xiang Jianhai, researchers at the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It broke through the technical bottleneck of sequencing and assembling the complex genome of Apostichopus japonicus, and the genome data of Apostichopus japonicus obtained using next-generation sequencing technology are superior to the indicators of the genome maps of most aquatic animals.

Yang Hongsheng said that the successful decoding of the whole genome sequence will provide theoretical support for the reproduction and development, immune regulation, nutritional metabolism and genetic analysis of Apostichopus japonicus, promote the analysis of important economic traits, molecular marker-assisted selection and whole-genome genetic breeding of Apostichopus japonicus, and help reveal the mechanisms behind its special life phenomena such as aestivation, regeneration and autolysis.

In the 1950s, researchers at the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences carried out morphological classification and classical biological research on sea cucumbers, clarified the distribution and biodiversity characteristics of sea cucumbers in China, and elucidated their taxonomic status. Apostichopus japonicus belongs to the phylum Echinodermata and is mainly distributed in China's Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea and the seas of Northeast Asia.

In the past two years, in response to the problems faced by China's Apostichopus japonicus aquaculture industry, such as difficulties in seedling rearing, low survival rates, severe diseases, germplasm degradation and poor quality, researchers at the Institute of Oceanology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have carried out genomic research on Apostichopus japonicus.

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