Spiralian genomics and the evolution of animal genome architecture

Abstract

Recent developments in sequencing technologies have greatly improved our knowledge of phylogenetic relationships and genomic architectures throughout the tree of life. Spiralia, a diverse clade within Protostomia, is essential for understanding the evolutionary history of parasitism, gene conversion, nervous systems and animal body plans. In this review, we focus on the current hypotheses of spiralian phylogeny and investigate the impact of long-read sequencing on the quality of genome assemblies. We examine chromosome-level assemblies to highlight key genomic features that have driven spiralian evolution, including karyotype, synteny and the Hox gene organization. In addition, we show how chromosome rearrangement has influenced spiralian genomic structures. Although spiralian genomes have undergone substantial changes, they exhibit both conserved and lineage-specific features. We recommend increasing sequencing efforts and expanding functional genomics research to deepen insights into spiralian biology.