title: Sequence and annotation of the apicoplast genome of the human pathogen Babesia microti.
abstract: The apicomplexan intraerythrocytic parasite Babesia microti is an emerging human pathogen and the primary cause of human babesiosis, a malaria-like illness endemic in the United States. The pathogen is transmitted to humans by the tick vector, Ixodes scapularis, and by transfusion of blood from asymptomatic B. microti-infected donors. Whereas the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of this parasite have been sequenced, assembled and annotated, its apicoplast genome remained incomplete, mainly due to its low representation and high A+T content. Here we report the complete sequence and annotation of the apicoplast genome of the B. microti R1 isolate. The genome consists of a 28.7 kb circular molecule encoding primarily functions important for maintenance of the apicoplast DNA, transcription, translation and maturation of organellar proteins. Genome analysis and annotation revealed a unique gene structure and organization of the B. microti apicoplast genome and suggest that all metabolic and non-housekeeping functions in this organelle are nuclear-encoded. B. microti apicoplast functions are significantly different from those of the host, suggesting that they might be useful as targets for development of potent and safe therapies for the treatment of human babesiosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Aprajita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Centre d'étude d'agents Pathogènes et Biotechnologies pour la Santé - UMR 5236, Institut de Biologie Computationnelle, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Ankit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dwivedi
authors.affiliation: Centre d'étude d'agents Pathogènes et Biotechnologies pour la Santé - UMR 5236, Institut de Biologie Computationnelle, Montpellier, France; CIRAD, UMR 17, Cirad-Ird, TA-A17/G, Campus International de Baillarguet, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frutos
authors.affiliation: Centre d'étude d'agents Pathogènes et Biotechnologies pour la Santé - UMR 5236, Institut de Biologie Computationnelle, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cornillot
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America.
authors.forename: Choukri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ben Mamoun
mesh_terms: D063546:Apicoplasts / Q000235:genetics*; D041001:Babesia microti / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000469:parasitology; D023061:Gene Order; D054627:Genome, Plastid; D006801:Humans; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA