Genomic minimalism in the early diverging intestinal parasite Giardia lamblia.
The genome of the eukaryotic protist Giardia lamblia, an important human intestinal parasite, is compact in structure and content, contains few introns or mitochondrial relics, and has simplified machinery for DNA replication, transcription, RNA processing, and most metabolic pathways. Protein kinases comprise the single largest protein class and reflect Giardia's requirement for a complex signal transduction network for coordinating differentiation. Lateral gene transfer from bacterial and archaeal donors has shaped Giardia's genome, and previously unknown gene families, for example, cysteine-rich structural proteins, have been discovered. Unexpectedly, the genome shows little evidence of heterozygosity, supporting recent speculations that this organism is sexual. This genome sequence will not only be valuable for investigating the evolution of eukaryotes, but will also be applied to the search for new therapeutics for this parasite.
Morrison
Hilary G
HG
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543-1015, USA. morrison@mbl.edu
McArthur
Andrew G
AG
Gillin
Frances D
FD
Aley
Stephen B
SB
Adam
Rodney D
RD
Olsen
Gary J
GJ
Best
Aaron A
AA
Cande
W Zacheus
WZ
Chen
Feng
F
Cipriano
Michael J
MJ
Davids
Barbara J
BJ
Dawson
Scott C
SC
Elmendorf
Heidi G
HG
Hehl
Adrian B
AB
Holder
Michael E
ME
Huse
Susan M
SM
Kim
Ulandt U
UU
Lasek-Nesselquist
Erica
E
Manning
Gerard
G
Nigam
Anuranjini
A
Nixon
Julie E J
JE
Palm
Daniel
D
Passamaneck
Nora E
NE
Prabhu
Anjali
A
Reich
Claudia I
CI
Reiner
David S
DS
Samuelson
John
J
Svard
Staffan G
SG
Sogin
Mitchell L
ML
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells; D022761:Gene Transfer, Horizontal; D017125:Genes, Protozoan; D018503:Genome, Protozoan; D023281:Genomics; D016829:Giardia lamblia / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D015398:Signal Transduction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases