Latin American & Caribbean Aquaculture 2025

October 7 - 9, 2025

Puerto Varas, Chile

GENOME ANALYSIS AND MOLECULAR BASIS OF SEX DIFFERENTIATION IN IVORY SNAIL

Caihuan Ke* , Yu Zoua, Xuan Luo, Weiwei You

 

 State Key Laboratory of Mariculture Breeding, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361002, PR China

 

chke@xmu.edu.cn



Abstract:  Babylonia areolata  is an essential marine economic mollusk found in the shallow seas of tropical and subtropical regions. In mainland China, native species such as  B. areolata  and  B. lutosa  have developed into a large-scale aquaculture industry, making China the largest culture producer worldwide. However, basic biological research on  B. areolata  was still very rare, which constrains the improvement of aquaculture techniques.  We successfully constructed a chromosome-level genome containing 35 chromosomes, with a total genome length of approximately 1.65 Gb and scaffold and contig N50 lengths of 53.17 Mb and 2.64 Mb, respectively. Compared with the genomes of several Neogastropoda species currently available, the reference genomes reached the highest assembly and annotation levels. Using whole-genome resequencing data from 113 wild specimens collected from five geographical populations, the study found that these samples could be divided into three main genetic groups: Thailand, Vietnam, and China.  For the first time, this study determined that the sex determination system of the  B. areolata is a female heterogametic ZZ/ZW type. A sex-specific molecular marker  based on an 81 bp female-specific deletion was successfully developed and validated across different geographical populations. These findings enhance our understanding of the genetic mechanisms in the  B. areolata and provide a solid scientific foundation for molecular breeding and genetic improvement.