Spider Genome Sequenced For The First Time

May 8, 2014

Image Caption: The velvet spiders genome has now been mapped. This image shows a group of social velvet spiders jointly killing their prey. Credit: Peter Gammelby, Aarhus University.

Anne-Mette Siem, Aarhus University

For the first time ever, a group of Danish and Chinese researchers has sequenced the genome of the spider. This knowledge provides a much more qualified basis for studying features of the spider. It also shows that humans share certain genomic similarities with spiders.

The fact that the eight-legged creepy spider in some ways resembles humans is one of the surprising conclusions after researchers at Aarhus University and the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) succeeded in sequencing its genome.

However, it is more a discovery on an awesome scale. The sequencing has far greater significance for our future understanding of the spiders special properties

In brief, weve acquired a tool for everyone interested in spiders, say Kristian W. Sanggaard and Jesper S. Bechsgaard, Aarhus University. Together with Xiaodong Fang, BGI, they are the first authors of the study, which has been published in Nature Communications. By describing the spider genome, the researchers have roughly speaking drawn up its genetic map. This map can be used in future to navigate to and delve into different areas of the spiders functions which will now be easier to describe.

What is a spider?

The researchers worked with two types of spiders, representing two of the three main groups in the spider family. One of these is a small velvet spider and the other is a tarantula.

The researchers succeeded in sequencing the velvet spiders genome, while there are still some unsolved gaps in the genetic map of the tarantula.

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Spider Genome Sequenced For The First Time