De novo Assembly of the Transcriptome of the Clinging Jellyfish (Gonionemus vertens)

Gonionemus vertens, commonly known as the clinging jellyfish, is a hydrozoan native to the Pacific Ocean. This species has made appearances in estuaries on the Northeastern coast of the United States including New Jersey, where it was first reported in 2016. Its life cycle has a benthic component, beginning as a polyp which later undergoes differentiation to produce free-swimming medusae. The medusae (averaging a 2 cm bell diameter when mature) are commonly found in eelgrass beds, particularly during the summer months when the water is warm and in areas where the water flow is minimal. G. vertens is noted to have a potent sting that results in systemic pain, often leading to hospitalization and thus, poses a seasonal public health concern. To better understand this species and its toxic sting, RNA was extracted from five individuals collected from Martha’s Vineyard, MA. Transcriptome libraries were constructed form poly A+ mRNA and sequenced on an Illumina NGS platform. Raw RNA-seq data was processed and assembled de novo using Trinity. These assembled contigs were then searched against existing databases using BLASTx to identify and categorize the proteins present. Bioinformatic strategies utilized to identify putative venom proteins in these libraries will be presented.