Gene co-expression modules underlying polymorphic and monomorphic zooids in the colonial hydrozoan, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus

David C Plachetzki; M Sabrina Pankey; Brian R Johnson; Eric J Ronne; Artyom Kopp; Richard K Grosberg

doi:10.1093/icb/icu080

Gene co-expression modules underlying polymorphic and monomorphic zooids in the colonial hydrozoan, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus

Integr Comp Biol. 2014 Jul;54(2):276-83. doi: 10.1093/icb/icu080. Epub 2014 Jun 15.

Authors

David C Plachetzki¹, M Sabrina Pankey², Brian R Johnson², Eric J Ronne², Artyom Kopp², Richard K Grosberg²

Affiliations

¹ *Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, The University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03801, USA; Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology, The University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; Department of Entomology, The University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Evolution and Ecology, Center for Population Biology, The University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA david.plachetzki@unh.edu.
² *Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, The University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03801, USA; Department of Ecology Evolution and Marine Biology, The University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA; Department of Entomology, The University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA; Department of Evolution and Ecology, Center for Population Biology, The University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

PMID: 24935986
DOI: 10.1093/icb/icu080

Abstract

Advances in sequencing technology have forced a quantitative revolution in Evolutionary Biology. One important feature of this renaissance is that comprehensive genomic resources can be obtained quickly for almost any taxon, thus speeding the development of new model organisms. Here, we analyze 20 RNA-seq libraries from morphologically, sexually, and genetically distinct polyp types from the gonochoristic colonial hydrozoan, Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus (Cnidaria). Analyses of these data using weighted gene co-expression networks highlight deeply conserved genetic elements of animal spermatogenesis and demonstrate the utility of these methods in identifying modules of genes that correlate with different zooid types across various statistical contrasts. RNA-seq data and analytical scripts described here are deposited in publicly available databases.

© The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Gene Expression*
Gene Library
Gene Regulatory Networks*
Hydrozoa / genetics*
Molecular Sequence Data
Sequence Analysis, RNA

Associated data

SRA/PRJNA244078

Grants and funding

Howard Hughes Medical Institute/United States