De novo assembly and characterization of tissue specific transcriptomes in the emerald notothen Trematomus bernacchii

摘要

BackgroundThe notothenioids comprise a diverse group of fishes that rapidly radiated after isolation by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current approximately 14–25 million years ago. Given that evolutionary adaptation has led to finely tuned traits with narrow physiological limits in these organisms, this system provides a unique opportunity to examine physiological trade-offs and limits of adaptive responses to environmental perturbation. As such, notothenioids have a rich history with respect to studies attempting to understand the vulnerability of polar ecosystems to the negative impacts associated with global climate change. Unfortunately, despite being a model system for understanding physiological adaptations to extreme environments, we still lack fundamental molecular tools for much of the Nototheniidae family.