De novo transcriptome analysis in the centrohelid Raphidocystis contractilis

Raphidocystis contractilis (previously known as Raphidiophrys contractilis) belongs to the Centrohelid heliozoa. It has many radiating axopodia, each containing a bundle of axopodial microtubules. Although mechanical stimuli induce the rapid contraction of the axopodia at nearly a video rate (30 frames/s), the underlying molecular mechanism of rapid axopodial contraction in R. contractilis has not been elucidated. In this study, we performed de novo transcriptome sequencing of R. contractilis to identify the genes involved in the unique microtubule dynamics.