title: Pyrosequencing of Haliotis diversicolor transcriptomes: insights into early developmental molluscan gene expression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The abalone Haliotis diversicolor is a good model for study of the settlement and metamorphosis, which are widespread marine ecological phenomena. However, information on the global gene backgrounds and gene expression profiles for the early development of abalones is lacking.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, eight non-normalized and multiplex barcode-labeled transcriptomes were sequenced using a 454 GS system to cover the early developmental stages of the abalone H. diversicolor. The assembly generated 35,415 unigenes, of which 7,566 were assigned GO terms. A global gene expression profile containing 636 scaffolds/contigs was constructed and was proven reliable using qPCR evaluation. It indicated that there may be existing dramatic phase transitions. Bioprocesses were proposed, including the 'lock system' in mature eggs, the collagen shells of the trochophore larvae and the development of chambered extracellular matrix (ECM) structures within the earliest postlarvae.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study globally details the first 454 sequencing data for larval stages of H. diversicolor. A basic analysis of the larval transcriptomes and cluster of the gene expression profile indicates that each stage possesses a batch of specific genes that are indispensable during embryonic development, especially during the two-cell, trochophore and early postlarval stages. These data will provide a fundamental resource for future physiological works on abalones, revealing the mechanisms of settlement and metamorphosis at the molecular level.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zi-Xia
authors.initials: ZX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Zhi-Sen
authors.initials: ZS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Cai-Huan
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wei-Wei
authors.initials: WW
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei-Ting
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics*; D007814:Larva / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*