Project description:The Spanish slug, Arion vulgaris, is considered one of the hundred most invasive species in Central Europe. The lack of natural predators can refer to the potential toxicity of slugs. However, no transcriptomic or proteomic study has been done so far in Arion vulgaris. In this study, we present the first investigation of expression profile in Arion vulgaris at the protein level. Two-dimensional (2D) gel electrophoresis and nano-LC-ESI-MS/MS were used to resolve and identify proteins from slug mantel and slug eggs. To facilitate proteomics in non-model organisms, mRNA-derived protein database was used for protein identification.
Project description:Stylommatophoran pulmonate land slugs and snails successfully completed the water-to-land transition from an aquatic ancestor and flourished on land. Of the 30,000 estimated species, very few genomes have so far been published. Here, we assembled and characterized a chromosome-level genome of the “Spanish” slug, Arion vulgaris Moquin-Tandon, 1855, a notorious pest land slug in Europe. Using this reference genome, we conclude that a whole-genome duplication event occurred approximately 93–109 Mya at the base of Stylommatophora and might have promoted land invasion and adaptive radiation. Comparative genomic analyses reveal that genes related to the development of kidney, blood vessels, muscle, and nervous systems had expanded in the last common ancestor of land pulmonates, likely an evolutionary response to the terrestrial challenges of gravity and water loss. Analyses of A. vulgaris gene families and positively selected genes show the slug has evolved a stronger ability to counteract the greater threats of external damage, radiation, and water loss lacking a protective shell. Furthermore, a recent burst of long interspersed elements in the genome of A. vulgaris might affect gene regulation and contribute to rapid phenotype changes in A. vulgaris, which might be conducive to its rapid adaptation and invasiveness.