Reconstructing the genomes of bilaterian ancestors is central to our understanding of animal evolution, where knowledge from ancient and/or slow-evolving bilaterian lineages is critical. Here we report a high-quality, chromosome-anchored reference genome for the scallop Patinopecten yessoensis, a bivalve mollusc that has a slow-evolving genome with many ancestral features. Chromosome-based macrosynteny analysis reveals a striking correspondence between the 19 scallop chromosomes and the 17 presumed ancestral bilaterian linkage groups at a level of conservation previously unseen, suggesting that the scallop may have a karyotype close to that of the bilaterian ancestor. Scallop Hox gene expression follows a new mode of subcluster temporal co-linearity that is possibly ancestral and may provide great potential in supporting diverse bilaterian body plans. Transcriptome analysis of scallop mantle eyes finds unexpected diversity in phototransduction cascades and a potentially ancient Pax2/5/8-dependent pathway for noncephalic eyes. The outstanding preservation of ancestral karyotype and developmental control makes the scallop genome a valuable resource for understanding early bilaterian evolution and biology.

Herein we describe the development and application of a set of novel N, N-dimethyl leucine (DiLeu) 4-plex isobaric tandem mass (MS2) tagging reagents with high quantitation efficacy and greatly reduced cost for neuropeptide and protein analysis. DiLeu reagents serve as attractive alternatives for isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) and tandem mass tags (TMTs) due to their synthetic simplicity, labeling efficiency and improved fragmentation efficiency. DiLeu reagent resembles the general structure of a tandem mass tag in that it contains an amine reactive group (triazine ester) targeting the N-terminus and ε-amino group of the lysine side-chain of a peptide, a balance group, and a reporter group. A mass shift of m/z 145.1 is observed for each incorporated label. Intense a1 reporter ions at m/z 115.1, 116.1, 117.1, and 118.1 are observed for all pooled samples upon MS2. All labeling reagents are readily synthesized from commercially available chemicals with greatly reduced cost. Labels 117 and 118 can be synthesized in one step and labels 115 and 116 can be synthesized in two steps. Both DiLeu and iTRAQ reagents show comparable protein sequence coverage (~43%) and quantitation accuracy (<15%) for tryptically digested protein samples. Furthermore, enhanced fragmentation of DiLeu labeling reagents offers greater confidence in protein identification and neuropeptide sequencing from complex neuroendocrine tissue extracts from a marine model organism, Callinectes sapidus.

Catfish represent 12% of teleost or 6.3% of all vertebrate species, and are of enormous economic value. Here we report a high-quality reference genome sequence of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus), the major aquaculture species in the US. The reference genome sequence was validated by genetic mapping of 54,000 SNPs, and annotated with 26,661 predicted protein-coding genes. Through comparative analysis of genomes and transcriptomes of scaled and scaleless fish and scale regeneration experiments, we address the genomic basis for the most striking physical characteristic of catfish, the evolutionary loss of scales and provide evidence that lack of secretory calcium-binding phosphoproteins accounts for the evolutionary loss of scales in catfish. The channel catfish reference genome sequence, along with two additional genome sequences and transcriptomes of scaled catfishes, provide crucial resources for evolutionary and biological studies. This work also demonstrates the power of comparative subtraction of candidate genes for traits of structural significance.

Glycosyltransferases (GTs), an essential class of ubiquitous enzymes, are generally perceived as unidirectional catalysts. In contrast, we report that four glycosyltransferases from two distinct natural product biosynthetic pathways-calicheamicin and vancomycin-readily catalyze reversible reactions, allowing sugars and aglycons to be exchanged with ease. As proof of the broader applicability of these new reactions, more than 70 differentially glycosylated calicheamicin and vancomycin variants are reported. This study suggests the reversibility of GT-catalyzed reactions may be general and useful for generating exotic nucleotide sugars, establishing in vitro GT activity in complex systems, and enhancing natural product diversity.