Recently, the latest research results on the genomes of the two subspecies of the bay scallop, chaired by Professor Wang Chunde of Qingdao Agricultural University, and participated in by Zhejiang Ocean University, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanography of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and BGI Ocean, were published in the international academic journal Nature sub-journal Scientific Data[1] (Figure 1).
Previously, BGI Ocean also participated in the purple scallop genome chaired by Professor Wang Chunde, and the results of the paper were published in GigaScience [2] (Figure 2).
Figure 1: The genome paper of two subspecies of the Bay scallop was published in Scientific Data
The northern subspecies of the bay scallop (Argopecten irradians irradians) and the southern subspecies (A. a. Irradians concentricus, also known as Gulf of Mexico scallops) were introduced to China from the United States in 1982 and 1991, respectively. Today, these two subspecies have become the main scallop species cultivated in the northern and southern waters of China.
The purple scallop (Argopecten purpuratus) is the only species of the Gulf scallop genus distributed along the South Pacific coast, which was first introduced to China from Peru by Professor Wang Chunde's research group in 2007 [3].
Figure 2: The purple scallop genome paper was published in GigaScience
In recent years, the research group has successfully cultivated a series of new hybrid varieties (strains) with significant growth advantages by hybridizing two subspecies of purple scallop and bay scallop, among which scallops "Bohai Red", "Qingnong No. 2" and "Qingnong Jinbei" have obtained the national aquatic new variety certificate, becoming the main scallop breeding species in northern China, and successfully cultivated in the southern seas such as Fujian, Guangxi and Guangdong [3, 4].
All along, BGI Ocean has been actively participating in the genomics research and promotion of new species breeding in the Bay Scallop Project, and hopes to achieve large-scale bottom sowing in the sea area belonging to the Shenzhen-Shantou Special Cooperation Zone, the "enclave" of Shenzhen, and promote the comprehensive improvement of local marine ecological and economic value.
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[1] Liu X., Li C., Chen M., Liu B., Yan X., Ning J., Ma B., Liu G., ZhongZ., Jia Y., Shi Q., Wang C. Draft genomes of two Atlantic bay scallopsubspecies Argopecten irradians irradiansand A. i. concentricus. Scientific Data, 2020, 7:99.
[2] Li C., Liu X., Ma B., Liu G., Shi Q., Wang C. Draft genome of thePeruvian scallop Argopecten purpuratus. GigaScience, 2018, 7(4): giy031.
[3] Qingdao Agricultural University completed genome sequencing and assembly of two subspecies of Bay scallops. Qingdao Agricultural University News Network (2020-03-25).
[4] Qingdao Nongda scallop breeding has made new progress in the sequencing of the purple scallop genome. Qingdao Agricultural University News Network(2018-04-04).