title: The Wolbachia genome of Brugia malayi: endosymbiont evolution within a human pathogenic nematode.
abstract: Complete genome DNA sequence and analysis is presented for Wolbachia, the obligate alpha-proteobacterial endosymbiont required for fertility and survival of the human filarial parasitic nematode Brugia malayi. Although, quantitatively, the genome is even more degraded than those of closely related Rickettsia species, Wolbachia has retained more intact metabolic pathways. The ability to provide riboflavin, flavin adenine dinucleotide, heme, and nucleotides is likely to be Wolbachia's principal contribution to the mutualistic relationship, whereas the host nematode likely supplies amino acids required for Wolbachia growth. Genome comparison of the Wolbachia endosymbiont of B. malayi (wBm) with the Wolbachia endosymbiont of Drosophila melanogaster (wMel) shows that they share similar metabolic trends, although their genomes show a high degree of genome shuffling. In contrast to wMel, wBm contains no prophage and has a reduced level of repeated DNA. Both Wolbachia have lost a considerable number of membrane biogenesis genes that apparently make them unable to synthesize lipid A, the usual component of proteobacterial membranes. However, differences in their peptidoglycan structures may reflect the mutualistic lifestyle of wBm in contrast to the parasitic lifestyle of wMel. The smaller genome size of wBm, relative to wMel, may reflect the loss of genes required for infecting host cells and avoiding host defense systems. Analysis of this first sequenced endosymbiont genome from a filarial nematode provides insight into endosymbiont evolution and additionally provides new potential targets for elimination of cutaneous and lymphatic human filarial disease.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Parasitology Division, New England Biolabs, Beverly, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Foster
authors.forename: Mehul
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ganatra
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ware
authors.forename: Kira
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Makarova
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ivanova
authors.forename: Anamitra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.forename: Vinayak
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kapatral
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Janos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Posfai
authors.forename: Tamas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vincze
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ingram
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.forename: Alla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lapidus
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Omelchenko
authors.forename: Nikos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kyrpides
authors.forename: Elodie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ghedin
authors.forename: Shiliang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Goltsman
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Joukov
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ostrovskaya
authors.forename: Kiryl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukerman
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mazur
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Comb
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koonin
authors.forename: Barton
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Slatko
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017178:Brugia malayi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D013559:Symbiosis / Q000235:genetics; D020577:Wolbachia / Q000235:genetics*