Integrative analysis of large scale transcriptome data draws a comprehensive landscape of Phaeodactylum tricornutum genome and evolutionary origin of diatoms

2 3 Diatoms are one of the most successful and ecologically important groups of eukaryotic 4 phytoplankton in the modern ocean. Deciphering their genomes is a key step towards better 5 understanding of their biological innovations, evolutionary origins, and ecological 6 underpinnings. Here, we have used 90 RNA-Seq datasets from different growth conditions 7 combined with published expressed sequence tags and protein sequences from multiple taxa 8 to explore the genome of the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, and introduce 1,489 9 novel genes. The new annotation additionally permitted the discovery for the first time of 10 extensive alternative splicing (AS) in diatoms, including intron retention and exon skipping 11 which increases the diversity of transcripts to regulate gene expression in response to nutrient 12 limitations. In addition, we have used up-to-date reference sequence libraries to dissect the 13 taxonomic origins of diatom genomes. We show that the P. tricornutum genome is replete in 14 lineage-specific genes, with up to 47% of the gene models present only possessing 15 orthologues in other stramenopile groups. Finally, we have performed a comprehensive de 16 novo annotation of repetitive elements showing novel classes of TEs such as SINE, MITE, LINE 17 and TRIM/LARD. This work provides a solid foundation for future studies of diatom gene 18 function, evolution and ecology.