1. The genome of the African trypanosome Trypanosoma brucei
- Author
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David W. Johnson, Barclay G. Barrell, Sharon Moule, Luke J. Tallon, Ian Goodhead, Lihua Hou, Jeremy Peterson, Danielle Walker, David M. A. Martin, Sara E. Melville, Kristine Jones, Martin Aslett, Appolinaire Djikeng, Neil Hall, Inna Cherevach, Hean Koo, Ester Rabbinowitsch, Steven L. Salzberg, Sarah Sharp, Mark Raymond Adams, Claire Arrowsmith, Andrew Barron, Elisabetta Ullu, Rebecca Atkin, Mark Simmonds, Al Ivens, John E. Donelson, Elodie Ghedin, P. Mooney, Adrian Tivey, Tamara Feldblyum, Audrey Fraser, Natasha Larke, Keith Gull, Jonathon Doggett, Doug Ormond, Jennifer R. Wortman, Claire M. Fraser, Carol Churcher, Mark Carrington, Chris P Reitter, Anjana J. Simpson, Joshua Shallom, Louise Clark, Brian J. Haas, Arnaud Kerhornou, Andrew Tait, Matthew Berriman, Mandy Sanders, Halina Norbertczak, Justin Johnson, Sally Whitehead, Jessica B. Hostetler, Scott M. Landfear, Frédéric Bringaud, Barbara Harris, Ann Cronin, J. David Barry, Fred R. Opperdoes, U. Cecilia M. Alsmark, Brian White, Craig Corton, John Woodward, Najib M. El-Sayed, Alexandra Line, Elisabet Caler, Annette MacLeod, Heidi Hauser, T. Martin Embley, Marie-Adèle Rajandream, Daniella Castanheira Bartholomeu, Mark C. Field, Angela Lord, Linda Hannick, C. Michael R. Turner, Gareth W. Morgan, Hubert Renauld, Bill Wickstead, Christiane Hertz-Fowler, Gaëlle Blandin, Shiliang Wang, Christopher S. Peacock, Tracey-Jane Chillingworth, Michael A. Quail, Karen Mungall, Robert L. Davies, Vanessa Leech, Alan H. Fairlamb, Susan Van Aken, Nicola Lennard, N. Hamlin, Ulrike Böhme, Karen Brooks, Owen White, Christopher Larkin, Lucio Marcello, Zahra Hance, David Harper, David Wanless, Grace Pai, Kay Jagels, and Seth Schobel
- Subjects
Glycosylphosphatidylinositols ,Spermidine ,Pseudogene ,Genes, Protozoan ,Molecular Sequence Data ,Trypanosoma brucei brucei ,Protozoan Proteins ,Antigens, Protozoan ,Trypanosoma brucei ,Genome ,Chromosomes ,Ergosterol ,parasitic diseases ,Animals ,Humans ,Ectopic recombination ,Amino Acids ,Gene ,Cytoskeleton ,Genomic organization ,Recombination, Genetic ,Genetics ,Multidisciplinary ,biology ,Sequence Analysis, DNA ,Lipid Metabolism ,biology.organism_classification ,Subtelomere ,Antigenic Variation ,Glutathione ,Protein Transport ,Pyrimidines ,Trypanosomiasis, African ,Purines ,Horizontal gene transfer ,Carbohydrate Metabolism ,Genome, Protozoan ,Pseudogenes - Abstract
African trypanosomes cause human sleeping sickness and livestock trypanosomiasis in sub-Saharan Africa. We present the sequence and analysis of the 11 megabase-sized chromosomes of Trypanosoma brucei . The 26-megabase genome contains 9068 predicted genes, including ∼900 pseudogenes and ∼1700 T. brucei –specific genes. Large subtelomeric arrays contain an archive of 806 variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes used by the parasite to evade the mammalian immune system. Most VSG genes are pseudogenes, which may be used to generate expressed mosaic genes by ectopic recombination. Comparisons of the cytoskeleton and endocytic trafficking systems with those of humans and other eukaryotic organisms reveal major differences. A comparison of metabolic pathways encoded by the genomes of T. brucei, T. cruzi , and Leishmania major reveals the least overall metabolic capability in T. brucei and the greatest in L. major . Horizontal transfer of genes of bacterial origin has contributed to some of the metabolic differences in these parasites, and a number of novel potential drug targets have been identified.
- Published
- 2016