Transcriptome of different shell color strains of Manila clam

Ruditapes philippinarum is one of the most commercially important marine shellfish in China. Shell color was used as an important trait for selection breeding of shellfish species. To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying shell color formation and expression are significant for the shellfish genetics and breeding.In this study, we used high throughput sequencing technology to analyze thetranscriptomes of four shell color strains of R. philippinarum to identify the genes associated with shell color polymorphism.