A Chromosome-level Assembly and Functional Genomic Resources for the Model Annelid Capitella teleta

Authors

• Billie E. Davies, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Paul Gonzalez, National Human Genome Research Institute
• Abhinav Sur, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• Jingcheng Wei, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Tom Frankish, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Jimena Montagne, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Allan M. Carrillo-Baltodano, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Kero Guynes, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry
• Yan Liang, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Rory D. Donnellan, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College
• Travis Moreland R., National Institutes of Health
• Sumeeta Singh, National Institutes of Health
• Suiyuan Zhang, National Institutes of Health
• Reynold Yu, National Institutes of Health
• Tyra G. Wolfsberg, National Institutes of Health
• Néva Meyer, Clark UniversityFollow
• Elaine C. Seaver, University of Florida
• Andreas D. Baxevanis, National Institutes of Health
• José M. Martín-Durán, University of London - Queen Mary and Westfield College

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The polychaete Capitella teleta is a primary model for evolutionary developmental biology, comparative genomics, conservation, and ecotoxicology. Although it was the first polychaete genome sequenced, the original assembly is outdated by modern standards. Here, we combine long-read and short-read sequencing with Hi-C chromatin conformation capture to assemble chromosome-level nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of the laboratory strain of C. teleta. This reference assembly accurately reflects the expected genome size (∼243.6 Mb) and contains a highly complete, evolutionarily conserved gene repertoire. Notably, the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes are heavily rearranged, indicating a decoupling between gene family repertoire and chromosomal evolution. The analyses of developmental time courses of bulk and single-cell RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and EM-seq data using the new reference assembly resulted in a significant improvement in quality, enabling the identification of new cell-type-specific gene markers. Finally, we generated a publicly available genome browser that ensures these resources comply with FAIR principles. Our study provides state-of-the-art genomic resources for C. teleta, addressing a pressing community need and opening new research opportunities in animal and genome evolution.

Publication Title

Genome biology and evolution

Publication Date

2026

Volume

18

Issue

3

ISSN

1759-6653

DOI

10.1093/gbe/evag041

Keywords

Capitella teleta, Annelida, genome browser, mitochondrial genome, single-cell RNA-seq, Spiralia

Repository Citation

Davies, Billie E.; Gonzalez, Paul; Sur, Abhinav; Wei, Jingcheng; Frankish, Tom; Montagne, Jimena; Carrillo-Baltodano, Allan M.; Guynes, Kero; Liang, Yan; Donnellan, Rory D.; Moreland R., Travis; Singh, Sumeeta; Zhang, Suiyuan; Yu, Reynold; Wolfsberg, Tyra G.; Meyer, Néva; Seaver, Elaine C.; Baxevanis, Andreas D.; and Martín-Durán, José M., "A Chromosome-level Assembly and Functional Genomic Resources for the Model Annelid Capitella teleta" (2026). Biology. 448.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_biology/448

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright Conditions

Davies, B. E., Gonzalez, P., Sur, A., Wei, J., Frankish, T., Montagne, J., ... & Martín-Durán, J. M. (2026). A chromosome-level assembly and functional genomic resources for the model annelid Capitella teleta. Genome Biology and Evolution, 18(3), evag041. https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evag041