Chinese researchers help decode gene secrets of tiny Antarctic krill

Study jointly led by China’s BGI-Research reveals how huge genome size helps tiny shrimp-like creatures survive in icy polar waters

Team from Australia, China, Denmark, Germany and Italy has produced largest animal genome sequence to date, according to study published in Cell

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Hundreds of millions of tonnes of Antarctic krill live in the sub-zero waters of the Southern Ocean. Photo: Simon Payne, Australian Antarctic Division

Published: 12:00am, 3 Mar 2023Updated: 12:59am, 3 Mar 2023

They are not much bigger than a large paper clip, but the shrimp-like Antarctic krill do pack a jumbo genetic punch – a major tool for their survival in icy polar waters.

An international study jointly led by a Chinese institute has now thrown light on just how that survival mechanism works, for the tiny crustaceans with the largest biomass of any wild animal species.

Hundreds of millions of tonnes of Antarctic krill live in the sub-zero waters of the Southern Ocean, making up a major protein source in the food chain at the South Pole.

To survive, krill can fast for up to 200 days and even shrink their bodies from adult to juvenile size when food is scarce.

They can also lay thousands of eggs in one go that sink to 1,000 to 2,000 metres (3,280 to 6,560 feet) deep into the ocean to hatch undisturbed, before the larvae float back to the surface to feed on microorganisms.

Their enormous genome size – around 16 times larger than that of a human – and its complexity present major challenges for research into Antarctic krill.

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