Urticinopsis antarctica RNA-seq

Sea anemones are fundamental components of benthic communities in the Antarctic continent. They represent one of the largest predators in this region and can consume a broad range of prey. To date, very little is known about these organisms in the extreme habitat and in literature there are only few studies about distribution, abundance and feeding behaviour. We focus our study on the sea Antarctic anemone Urticinopsis antarctica. A first histological, cell and trascriptomic de novo analyses are here showed. The histological and histochemical approach allowed to compare the species on a structural level with other better known anthozoans. The collected data suggest that it is a non-symbiotic species, with the characteristic distinction in two body layers, the gastrodermis and the epidermis, divided by the mesoglea, the amorphous connective layer. Moreover, some cell types commonly present in the phylum have been found.RNA-seq data was generated using Illumina paired-end sequencing, obtaining ~32 Gbp of sequence data, which were assembled following the Oyster River Protocol into 71920 contigs and annotated with the AnnotaM pipeline. Studies on anemones biology in Antarctic coastal regions can contribute to the baseline knowledge of their adaptation capability to extreme conditions and provide an improved understanding of responses to anthropogenic and environmental disturbances. Besides that, the sequence collection could be used as a strategic reference for future studies on this species.