Autophagy originated from the common ancestor of all life forms, and its function is highly conserved from yeast to humans. Autophagy plays a key role in various fundamental biological processes including defense, and has developed through serial interactions of multiple gene sets referred to as autophagy-related (Atg) genes. Despite their significance in metazoan life and evolution, few studies have been conducted to identify these genes in aquatic invertebrates. In this study, we identified whole Atg genes in four Brachionus rotifer spp., namely B. calyciflorus, B. koreanus, B. plicatilis, and B. rotundiformis, through searches of their entire genomes; and we annotated them according to the yeast nomenclature. Twenty-four genes orthologous to yeast genes were present in all of the Brachionus spp. while three additional gene duplicates were identified in the genome of B. koreanus, indicating that these genes had diversified during the speciation. Also, their transcriptional responses to cadmium exposure indicated regulation by cadmium-induced oxidative-stress–related signaling pathways. This study provides valuable information on 99 conserved Atg genes involved in autophagosome formation in Brachionus spp., with transcriptional modulation in response to cadmium, in the context of the role of autophagy in the damage response.

自噬起源于所有生命形式的共同祖先，并且其功能从酵母到人类都高度保守。自噬在包括防御在内的各种基本生物学过程中起着关键作用，并且通过多种基因组（称为自噬相关（Atg）相关基因）的串行相互作用而发展起来。尽管它们在后生动物的生命和进化中具有重要意义，但很少进行研究来鉴定水生无脊椎动物中的这些基因。在这项研究中，我们发现整个署理基因四个臂轮虫属，即轮虫，B.朝鲜球，B.尾轮虫和B. rotundiformis通过搜索他们的整个基因组；我们根据酵母的命名方式对它们进行了注释。在所有的Brachionus spp中都存在与酵母基因同源的24个基因。而在朝鲜双歧杆菌的基因组中又发现了三个重复的基因，表明这些基因在物种形成过程中已经多样化。另外，它们对镉暴露的转录反应表明受镉诱导的氧化应激相关信号通路的调节。这项研究提供了有价值的信息，涉及自噬在损伤响应中的作用下，与Brachionus spp。中自噬体形成有关的99个保守Atg基因，其转录调节响应于镉。