Screening a new European hake (<i>Merluccius merluccius</i>) chromosome-level genome assembly suggests an XX/XY sex-determining system driven by the SRY-box transcription factor 3 (<i>sox3</i>)
Journal: G3 Genes Genomes Genetics
Year: 2025

Sex determination is exceptionally diverse and shows a high evolutionary rate in fish. European hake (Merluccius merluccius) is a species of great commercial value distributed throughout European coasts, which displays a significant sexual growth dimorphism. We present a chromosome-level genome of M. merluccius, composed of 215 contigs using long- and short-read sequencing, further scaffolded into the species' 21 chromosomes using Hi-C technique (715 Mb). RNA-seq on several tissues from pooled i