Hybrid assembly and annotation of Halisarca dujardinii (Porifera, Demospongiae) genome

Sponges are the oldest phyla of multicellular organisms. It is an attractive object for studying the early stages of evolution. Especially interesting are the issues accompanying the transition to multicellularity: the appearance of intercellular junctions, complex pathways of cell-to-cell communication, and the emergence of morphogenesis. In addition, the sponges' regenerative abilities are amazing: they are able to regenerate after dissociation of the organism into individual cells. We sequenced the genome of the sponge Halisarca dujardinii (Demospongiae) using Illumina and Oxford Nanopore technologies, and performed hybrid assembly by different assemblers, polishing and annotating gene models using RNA-seq data. Our genomic assembly allows us to assess gene microsynteny and can also be used to investigate expression regulation during regeneration at the epigenetic level.