FIGURE 1 The Asian Clam (Corbicula fluminea)
The meat of C. fluminea is delicious and nutritious, and thus the
clam is considered as a delicacy. It is rich in protein, amino acids,
and microelements, and its nutritional value has been well studied
(Zhao, & Liu, 2010; Zhuang, & Song, 2009). According to the Compendium
of Materia Medica, the Asian Clam has medicinal applications of
detumescence, dehumidification, sobering up, and benefits to the liver.
Modern research has found that the extracts of the clam can protect
against liver damage and reduce blood lipids (Chin, Chien, & Gow, 2010;
Peng, et al., 2008). The proteins in the clam can be hydrolyzed into
peptides and amino acids using proteases (Wu, & Sun, 2007). Using
modern enzymolysis technology for hydrolysis, various natural products
that have hepato-protective, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antioxidant,
and anti-hypertensive properties can be obtained. At present, the
utilization of Asian Clam resources mainly involves fresh, dried, and
canned food. As a traditional Chinese medicine, the Asian Clam is
underdeveloped. For example, Japan and South Korea import tens of
thousands of tons of clams to China every year for deep processing into
health care drugs such as sobering agents and liver-protecting drugs
(Zhang, 1996). Compared with Japan and South Korea, the deep processing
ability for the Asian Clam in China is relatively backward, resulting in
its economic and medicinal value not being fully exploited (Wang, &
Liu, 2010).
Deciphering the genome of C. fluminea is the most basic step in
our research program. The acquisition of a high-quality genome may
provide more detailed insights into the value of C. fluminea .
During the past decade, whole-genome sequencing has been widely
performed on a number of bivalves due to the rapid development of
third-generation sequencing (Sun, et al., 2017; Yan, et al., 2019). The
lack of a complete genome was the motivation for a de novo genome
sequencing of C. fluminea . In this study, we utilized PacBio and
Hi-C technology to successfully assemble a chromosomal-level genome (2n
= 36). The effective genome information, including chromosomes, genes,
and repeat sequence distributions, is displayed in a circle diagram
(Figure 2). This genome provides the foundation for a range of
development and breeding studies of C. fluminea in future
research.