Deciphering the genetic code of organisms with unusual phenotypes can help answer fundamental biological questions and provide insight into mechanisms relevant to human biomedical research. The cave salamander Proteus anguinus (Urodela: Proteidae), also known as the olm, is an example of a species with unique morphological and physiological adaptations to its subterranean environment, including regenerative abilities, resistance to prolonged starvation, and a life span of more than 100 years. However, the structure and sequence of the olm genome is still largely unknown owing to its enormous size, estimated at nearly 50 gigabases. An international Proteus Genome Research Consortium has been formed to decipher the olm genome. This perspective provides the scientific and biomedical rationale for exploring the olm genome and outlines potential outcomes, challenges, and methodological approaches required to analyze and annotate the genome of this unique amphibian.

中文翻译：

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走向变形杆菌的大量基因组——阐明长寿、再生、趋同进化和代谢紊乱

破译具有不寻常表型的生物体的遗传密码有助于回答基本的生物学问题，并提供与人类生物医学研究相关的机制的洞察力。洞穴蝾螈Proteus anguinus（Urodela：Proteidae），也称为 olm，是一个对其地下环境具有独特形态和生理适应能力的物种的例子，包括再生能力、对长期饥饿的抵抗力和超过 100 年的寿命。然而，olm 基因组的结构和序列由于其巨大的大小（估计接近 50 GB）在很大程度上仍然未知。一个国际变形杆菌基因组研究联盟已经成立，以破译 olm 基因组。这一观点为探索 olm 基因组提供了科学和生物医学依据，并概述了分析和注释这种独特两栖动物基因组所需的潜在结果、挑战和方法学方法。