Functional insights into the testis transcriptome of the edible sea urchin Loxechinus albus

摘要: The edible sea urchin Loxechinus albus (Molina, 1782) is a keystone species in the littoral benthic systems of Pacific coast South America. international demand for high-quality gonads this echinoderm has led to an extensive exploitation and decline its natural populations. Consequently, more thorough understanding L. gonad development gametogenesis could provide valuable resources aquaculture applications, management, conservation studies about evolution functional structural pathways that underlie reproductive toolkit marine invertebrates. Using high-throughput sequencing technology, we explored male transcriptome highly fecund urchin. Through de novo assembly approach obtained 42,530 transcripts which 15,544 (36.6%) had significant alignments known proteins public databases. From these transcripts, approximately 73% were functionally annotated allowing identification several candidate genes are likely play central role developmental processes, nutrient reservoir activity, sexual reproduction, gamete generation, meiosis, sex differentiation, sperm motility, courtship behavior fertilization. Additionally, comparisons with transcriptomes other echinoderms revealed conserved orthologous genes, suggesting similar group