The oyster genome reveals stress adaptation and complexity of shell formation

In October 2012, Prof. Xiaodong Fang, Scientific Advisor of the company, as the first author, in collaboration with Prof. Guofan Zhang's team from the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published a landmark study in Nature presenting the whole-genome map of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas). Through comprehensive genome sequencing combined with multi-omics technologies including transcriptomics, the team systematically revealed the molecular adaptation mechanisms of oysters to extreme intertidal environments, as well as the unexpectedly complex molecular regulatory network underlying shell biomineralization.

The core breakthrough of this research lies in the unprecedented discovery of significant expansion of numerous stress-resistance-related gene families in the oyster genome, constituting the core genetic foundation for its adaptation to dramatic environmental fluctuations in the intertidal zone, including high temperatures, desiccation, high salinity, and hypoxia. Notably, the heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) gene family expanded to 88 copies—five times the average of other species—enabling cellular homeostasis maintenance under extreme temperatures approaching 50°C; the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) gene family reached 48 copies, nine times the average of other species, conferring extraordinary anti-apoptotic capacity that allows survival for weeks out of water. Simultaneously, the study overturned traditional understanding by discovering that shell formation is not solely dominated by mantle-secreted proteins, but involves collaborative participation of multiple cell types including hemocytes and exosomes, as well as non-secretory proteins, revealing that the molecular regulation and cellular coordination mechanisms of biomineralization are far more complex than previously known.

This achievement not only produced the first complete genome map of a mollusk, providing a core reference for evolutionary and environmental adaptation studies of marine bivalves, but also elucidated, at the molecular level, the underlying mechanisms of stress adaptation and biomineralization in bivalves, holding substantial scientific value and application prospects for genetic breeding of marine bivalves, marine ecological conservation, and biomimetic materials development.