Publisher Correction: Conservative route to genome compaction in a miniature annelid

Abstract

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-020-01327-6.

Multiple Displacement Amplification Facilitates SMRT Sequencing of Microscopic Animals and the Genome of the GastrotrichLepidodermella squamata(Dujardin, 1841)

“…The genomic consequences of miniaturization are poorly understood given the dearth of genomes from microscopic animals. Work to date has revealed that while some small-bodied lineages exhibit drastic simplification of genome architecture and reduction in content with respect to their large-bodied relatives (Seo et al 2001; Mikhailov et al 2016), have taken a more conservative route in regards to genome compaction (Martín-Durán et al 2021; reviewed by Worsaae et al 2023). Increased genomic sampling broadly spanning the metazoan tree stands to provide insight into genomic signatures of miniaturization.…”

The role of systematics for understanding ecosystem functions: Proceedings of the Zoologica Scripta Symposium, Oslo, Norway, 25 August 2022

“…Fortunately, also in this respect, the new sequencing technologies brought substantial progress. Nowadays, it is possible to sequence high‐quality genomes for different plants, fungi, protists and animals including non‐model species and species with very large and complex genomes, with very small body sizes, with high ploidy levels or with low‐quality preservation status (Cerca et al, 2022; Kingan et al, 2019; Kwiatkowski et al, 2021; Martín‐Durán et al, 2020; Meyer et al, 2021; Schloissnig et al, 2021; Schneider et al, 2021; Varney et al, 2022). This has led to the proposal of a biological moonshot mission, the sequencing of a reference genome for each known eukaryotic species on Earth (Lewin et al, 2018).…”

Fundamental questions in meiofauna—how small but ubiquitous animals can help to better understand Nature

“…Studies on these topics focusing on meiofauna arecomparatively limited and lag behind compared to those on large-bodied animals (Miller et al, 2022). Despite that, recent collaborative efforts among phylogenetists, morphologists, and systematists have significantly enhanced our capacity to integrate morphological and genomic data (Fonseca et al, 2017;Smythe et al, 2019;Martín-Durán et al, 2021;Herranz et al, 2022).…”

“…Genomic tools will be essential to understand the evolutionary processes and biological mechanisms responsible for biotic and abiotic adaptations in meiofauna. The analysis of genomic data will also be paramount in calculating the speed of evolutionary change and the history of morphologically cryptic species complexes (Q#88) (Bickford et al, 2007;Felix et al, 2014;Cerca et al, 2021) (see Panel I); but also, to understand the genetic basis for adaptation (Savolainen et al, 2013;Martín-Durán et al, 2021). Hand-in-hand with cryptic species inference using population genomic approaches is the interrogation of gene flow among populations and incipient species (i.e., hybrid introgression) and the drivers of its restrictions (Q#85).…”

“…Indeed, whereas most meiofauna are too tiny and fragile to leave any recoverable trace in fossil sites (Parry et al, 2017), those bearing calcareous structures, such as ostracods or foraminifera, have left extensive fossil record, valuable for palaeontological, biostratigraphical and paleoecological studies and reconstructions, both in academia and industry (Jones, 2013;Perrier et al, 2015). Meiofauna also yield potential to understand processes of ecological filtering, adaptation, and morphological change, at both lineage (Martín-Durán et al, 2021) and community levels Vieira et al, 2021). Some microscopic animals have dormant stages able to withstand extreme environmental conditions, even in space (Ricci et al, 2005;Persson et al, 2011), whereas others have been used as model organisms in pioneering cancer research (Kirienko et al, 2011) In an era in which we strive to make research as diverse, multidisciplinary, and international as possible (Cardoso et al, 2022), we should cherish terms such as meiofauna insofar as they provide unique opportunities to address timely and broad scientific questions from different angles across the natural sciences (Parker et al, 2016).…”