Unravelling the genome of one of the smallest and rarest animal phyla - Micrognathozoa

The 0.1 mm long, microscopic “jaw animal” has such a unique anatomy that it is acknowledged as the most recently described, 30th animal phylum on earth, Micrognathozoa. The only described species, Limnognathia maerski, can with intense sampling effort be found in freshwater creeks in Greenland. Yet, a strikingly similar population is found on a small island close to Antarctica, and environmental DNA and ecological surveys have revealed hidden European populations and a broader distribution of these elusive animals. Their origin and dispersal as well as their reproductive biology is a mystery with only females found, indicating that this phylum may have reproduced asexually by cloning for millions of years. 

With precious and carefully preserved specimens available from these isolated localities we will push the frontier of gene technology in the attempt to provide a reference genome of one of the smallest and rarest phyla on earth. We will use this valuable genomic resource as a catalyser for genome resequencing and comparisons between and within populations, to address the standing enigmas of how this phylum reproduce and disperse across the planet. If successful, we will establish a pioneering and valuable pipeline for acquiring high quality genomes from minute organisms with limited amount of high molecular weight input DNA, opening many new research avenues.