The nautilus, commonly known as a “living fossil,” is endangered and may be at risk of extinction. The lack of genomic information hinders a thorough understanding of its biology and evolution, which can shed light on the conservation of this endangered species. Here, we report the first high-quality chromosome-level genome assembly of Nautilus pompilius. The assembled genome size comprised 785.15 Mb. Comparative genomic analyses indicated that transposable elements (TEs) and large-scale genome reorganizations may have driven lineage-specific evolution in the cephalopods. Remarkably, evolving conserved genes and recent TE insertion activities were identified in N. pompilius, and we speculate that these findings reflect the strong adaptability and long-term survival of the nautilus. We also identified gene families that are potentially responsible for specific adaptation and evolution events. Our study provides unprecedented insights into the specialized biology and evolution of N. pompilius, and the results serve as an important resource for future conservation genomics of the nautilus and closely related species.

中文翻译：

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对鹦鹉螺适应和进化的基因组见解，鹦鹉螺是一种古老但不断发展的“活化石”

鹦鹉螺，俗称“活化石”，濒临灭绝，可能面临灭绝的危险。缺乏基因组信息阻碍了对其生物学和进化的彻底了解，这可以为保护这种濒危物种提供线索。在这里，我们组装的报告第一个高品质的染色体基因组水平鹦鹉螺 庇柳斯。组装的基因组大小包括 785.15 Mb。比较基因组分析表明，转座因子 (TE) 和大规模基因组重组可能推动了头足类动物的谱系特异性进化。值得注意的是，在N中鉴定了进化的保守基因和最近的 TE 插入活动。蓬皮柳斯，我们推测这些发现反映了鹦鹉螺的强大适应性和长期生存能力。我们还确定了可能对特定适应和进化事件负责的基因家族。我们的研究为N的专门生物学和进化提供了前所未有的见解。pompilius，其结果可作为鹦鹉螺和密切相关物种未来保护基因组学的重要资源。