title: The draft genome of the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis.
abstract: Genome evolution studies for the phylum Nematoda have been limited by focusing on comparisons involving Caenorhabditis elegans. We report a draft genome sequence of Trichinella spiralis, a food-borne zoonotic parasite, which is the most common cause of human trichinellosis. This parasitic nematode is an extant member of a clade that diverged early in the evolution of the phylum, enabling identification of archetypical genes and molecular signatures exclusive to nematodes. We sequenced the 64-Mb nuclear genome, which is estimated to contain 15,808 protein-coding genes, at ∼35-fold coverage using whole-genome shotgun and hierarchal map-assisted sequencing. Comparative genome analyses support intrachromosomal rearrangements across the phylum, disproportionate numbers of protein family deaths over births in parasitic compared to a non-parasitic nematode and a preponderance of gene-loss and -gain events in nematodes relative to Drosophila melanogaster. This genome sequence and the identified pan-phylum characteristics will contribute to genome evolution studies of Nematoda as well as strategies to combat global parasites of humans, food animals and crops.
authors.affiliation: The Genome Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA. mmitreva@genome.wustl.edu
authors.forename: Makedonka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitreva
authors.forename: Douglas P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Jasmer
authors.forename: Dante S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Zarlenga
authors.forename: Zhengyuan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abubucker
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Lucinda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fulton
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Minx
authors.forename: Shiaw-Pyng
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Wesley C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Fulton
authors.forename: Veena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bhonagiri
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Kym
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hallsworth-Pepin
authors.forename: Sandra W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Clifton
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: McCarter
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Appleton
authors.forename: Elaine R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Mardis
authors.forename: Richard K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009348:Nematoda / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA / Q000379:methods; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000235:genetics*