The Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, has a key position in the Southern Ocean food web by serving as direct link between primary producers and apex predators. The south-west Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean, where the majority of the krill population is located, is experiencing one of the most profound environmental changes worldwide. Up to now, we have only cursory information about krill’s genomic plasticity to cope with the ongoing environmental changes induced by anthropogenic CO2 emission. The genome of krill is not yet available due to its large size (about 48 Gbp).
We have developed the most advanced genetic database on Euphausia superba, KrillDB, which includes comprehensive data sets of former and present transcriptome projects. In particular, we have extended the previous KrillDB version, re-assembling krill transcriptome with an additional amount of Illumina sequence reads generated from adult krill, including male and female individuals coming from different geographical areas and time points. With these features, the 'master' transcriptome provides the most complete picture of metabolic pathways in Antarctic krill and allows the detection of novel sequences involved in crucial steps of krill life cycle. We have therefore increased the number of information on KrillDB², available as advanced, downloadable and interactive graphs, tables and images.