3.8 Desiccation-adaptive evolution of C. japonica
Changes in gene copy number affect the desiccation-adaptive evolution ofC. japonica. The present study examined the expansion and contraction of gene families and PSGs in C. japonica and A. amphitrite genomes to uncover the underlying desiccation-adaptive mechanisms. Compared with other species, the expanded gene families or PSGs were predominantly involved in metabolism rate (i.e., glycogen phosphorylase gene), oxygen supply (i.e., inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptor [IP3 ] gene, ribose-phosphate pyrophosphokinase A [PRPS1 ] gene, serine/threonine-protein phosphatase [STK ] gene, glutathione reductase [GSR ] gene), oxidative stress (i.e., heat shock protein [HSP ] gene, zinc finger [ZNF ] gene), and various transporters (annotation information of expanded gene families and PSGs, which might contribute to C. japonica ’s ability to overcome diverse stresses in drought environment.