Draft genome of the filarial nematode parasite Brugia malayi.
Parasitic nematodes that cause elephantiasis and river blindness threaten hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. We have sequenced the approximately 90 megabase (Mb) genome of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi and predict approximately 11,500 protein coding genes in 71 Mb of robustly assembled sequence. Comparative analysis with the free-living, model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans revealed that, despite these genes having maintained little conservation of local synteny during approximately 350 million years of evolution, they largely remain in linkage on chromosomal units. More than 100 conserved operons were identified. Analysis of the predicted proteome provides evidence for adaptations of B. malayi to niches in its human and vector hosts and insights into the molecular basis of a mutualistic relationship with its Wolbachia endosymbiont. These findings offer a foundation for rational drug design.
Ghedin
Elodie
E
Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. GhedinE@dom.pitt.edu
Wang
Shiliang
S
Spiro
David
D
Caler
Elisabet
E
Zhao
Qi
Q
Crabtree
Jonathan
J
Allen
Jonathan E
JE
Delcher
Arthur L
AL
Guiliano
David B
DB
Miranda-Saavedra
Diego
D
Angiuoli
Samuel V
SV
Creasy
Todd
T
Amedeo
Paolo
P
Haas
Brian
B
El-Sayed
Najib M
NM
Wortman
Jennifer R
JR
Feldblyum
Tamara
T
Tallon
Luke
L
Schatz
Michael
M
Shumway
Martin
M
Koo
Hean
H
Salzberg
Steven L
SL
Schobel
Seth
S
Pertea
Mihaela
M
Pop
Mihai
M
White
Owen
O
Barton
Geoffrey J
GJ
Carlow
Clotilde K S
CK
Crawford
Michael J
MJ
Daub
Jennifer
J
Dimmic
Matthew W
MW
Estes
Chris F
CF
Foster
Jeremy M
JM
Ganatra
Mehul
M
Gregory
William F
WF
Johnson
Nicholas M
NM
Jin
Jinming
J
Komuniecki
Richard
R
Korf
Ian
I
Kumar
Sanjay
S
Laney
Sandra
S
Li
Ben-Wen
BW
Li
Wen
W
Lindblom
Tim H
TH
Lustigman
Sara
S
Ma
Dong
D
Maina
Claude V
CV
Martin
David M A
DM
McCarter
James P
JP
McReynolds
Larry
L
Mitreva
Makedonka
M
Nutman
Thomas B
TB
Parkinson
John
J
Peregrín-Alvarez
José M
JM
Poole
Catherine
C
Ren
Qinghu
Q
Saunders
Lori
L
Sluder
Ann E
AE
Smith
Katherine
K
Stanke
Mario
M
Unnasch
Thomas R
TR
Ware
Jenna
J
Wei
Aguan D
AD
Weil
Gary
G
Williams
Deryck J
DJ
Zhang
Yinhua
Y
Williams
Steven A
SA
Fraser-Liggett
Claire
C
Slatko
Barton
B
Blaxter
Mark L
ML
Scott
Alan L
AL
D000818:Animals; D017178:Brugia malayi / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D002107:Caenorhabditis / Q000235:genetics; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics; D004351:Drug Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D005368:Filariasis / Q000469:parasitology; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data