Draft genome of the Chinese seabass (Lateolabrax maculatus)

The Chinese seabass (<i>Lateolabrax maculatus</i>) is an euryhaline teleost fish native to the margin seas of the Northwest Pacific Ocean with broad distribution along the Chinese coast reaching the south most to the Indo-China Peninsula and the north most to the Bohai Gulf. The life history, distribution and other biological characters of <i>L. maculatus</i> provide us suitable fish model for population studies in continual marginal sea. <i>L. maculatus</i> is also one of the most important cultivated marine fish in China and contributes over 120,000 tons annually. Here, we report the first reference genome of <i>L. maculatus</i>. The draft genome of <i>L. maculatus</i> is 597.39 Mb in size, with a contig N50 size of 182.31 kb and a scaffold N50 size of 2.79 Mb. We have predicted a total of 23,657 protein-coding genes with an average of 9.75 exons per gene, and subsequently annotated 22,509 genes with preliminary function. We also identified approximately 17.66% of <i>L. maculatus</i> genome as repeats including 6.09% of DNA transposons, 4.99% of long interspersed nuclear elements (LINEs) and 2.31% of long terminal repeats (LTRs). The high-quality draft genome of <i>L. maculatus</i> provides a valuable genetic resource for population genetics, adaptive evolution and genetic breeding of this ecologically and economically important teleost fish.

花鲈（Lateolabrax maculatus）是一种广盐性硬骨鱼，原产于西北太平洋边缘海域，在中国沿海分布广泛，最南可达中南半岛，最北至渤海湾。花鲈的生活史、分布特征及其他生物学性状，使其成为近岸边缘海域种群研究的理想鱼类模型。花鲈同时也是中国最重要的海水养殖鱼类之一，年产量超过12万吨。本研究首次报道了花鲈的首个参考基因组。花鲈的草图基因组大小为597.39 Mb，重叠群（contig）N50为182.31 kb，支架（scaffold）N50为2.79 Mb。本研究共预测得到23657个蛋白质编码基因，平均每个基因含9.75个外显子，并随后对22509个基因进行了初步功能注释。此外，本研究鉴定出花鲈基因组中约17.66%的序列为重复序列，其中包括6.09%的DNA转座子、4.99%的长散在核元件（LINEs）以及2.31%的长末端重复序列（LTRs）。这份高质量的花鲈草图基因组，为这种兼具生态与经济价值的硬骨鱼的种群遗传学、适应性进化及遗传育种研究提供了宝贵的遗传资源。