title: Genetic blueprint of the zoonotic pathogen Toxocara canis.
abstract: Toxocara canis is a zoonotic parasite of major socioeconomic importance worldwide. In humans, this nematode causes disease (toxocariasis) mainly in the under-privileged communities in developed and developing countries. Although relatively well studied from clinical and epidemiological perspectives, to date, there has been no global investigation of the molecular biology of this parasite. Here we use next-generation sequencing to produce a draft genome and transcriptome of T. canis to support future biological and biotechnological investigations. This genome is 317 Mb in size, has a repeat content of 13.5% and encodes at least 18,596 protein-coding genes. We study transcription in a larval, as well as adult female and male stages, characterize the parasite's gene-silencing machinery, explore molecules involved in development or host-parasite interactions and predict intervention targets. The draft genome of T. canis should provide a useful resource for future molecular studies of this and other, related parasites.
authors: 1] State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730046, Gansu Province, China [2] Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Xing-Quan
authors: XQ
authors: Zhu
authors: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Pasi K
authors: PK
authors: Korhonen
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Huimin
authors: H
authors: Cai
authors: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Neil D
authors: ND
authors: Young
authors: Department of Veterinary Disease Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 2200, Denmark.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Nejsum
authors: Institute for Parasitology und Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin 14163, Germany.
authors: Georg
authors: G
authors: von Samson-Himmelstjerna
authors: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia.
authors: Peter R
authors: PR
authors: Boag
authors: 1] Cancer and Stem Cell Biology, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore 138672, Republic of Singapore [2] Genome Institute of Singapore, 60 Biopolis Street, Singapore 138672, Republic of Singapore.
authors: Patrick
authors: P
authors: Tan
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Qiye
authors: Q
authors: Li
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Jiumeng
authors: J
authors: Min
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Yulan
authors: Y
authors: Yang
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Xiuhua
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: BGI, Shenzhen 518083, China.
authors: Xiaodong
authors: X
authors: Fang
authors: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Ross S
authors: RS
authors: Hall
authors: Structural Chemistry Program, Eskitis Institute, Griffith University, Brisbane 4111, Queensland, Australia.
authors: Andreas
authors: A
authors: Hofmann
authors: HHMI, Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125, California, USA.
authors: Paul W
authors: PW
authors: Sternberg
authors: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Aaron R
authors: AR
authors: Jex
authors: Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia.
authors: Robin B
authors: RB
authors: Gasser
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D020868:Gene Silencing; D059646:Genome Size; D049751:Genome, Helminth; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D006801:Humans; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D017166:Toxocara canis / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014120:Toxocariasis / Q000469:parasitology; D059467:Transcriptome
references: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2009;3(3):e400
references: 19333373
references: Int J Parasitol Drugs Drug Resist. 2011 Nov 07;2:58-75
references: 24533264
references: Vet Parasitol. 2013 Apr 15;193(4):353-64
references: 23485434
references: Nature. 2011 Nov 24;479(7374):529-33
references: 22031327
references: Acta Trop. 2012 Dec;124(3):171-8
references: 22921951
references: Lancet. 2009 May 2;373(9674):1570-5
references: 19410718
references: Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2008 Nov;162(1):60-70
references: 18703093
references: Clin Exp Allergy. 2008 Apr;38(4):649-58
references: 18167123
references: Nucleic Acids Res. 2007 Jul;35(Web Server issue):W265-8
references: 17485477
references: BMC Genomics. 2010;11:222
references: 20361874
references: J Parasitol. 1975 Aug;61(4):781-2
references: 1165568
references: Nat Genet. 2008 Oct;40(10):1193-8
references: 18806794
references: Biotechnol Adv. 2009 Jul-Aug;27(4):376-88
references: 19239923
references: Science. 1998 Dec 11;282(5396):2012-8
references: 9851916
references: Bioorg Med Chem Lett. 2011 Jun 1;21(11):3277-81
references: 21536433
references: Drug Discov Today Technol. 2004 Dec;1(4):337-41
references: 24981612
references: Trends Parasitol. 2004 Oct;20(10):469-76
references: 15363440
references: Cytogenet Genome Res. 2005;110(1-4):462-7
references: 16093699
references: Genome Res. 2003 Sep;13(9):2178-89
references: 12952885
references: Nucleic Acids Res. 1999 Jan 15;27(2):573-80
references: 9862982
references: Mol Cell. 2012 Sep 14;47(5):746-54
references: 22902558
references: Nat Biotechnol. 2010 May;28(5):511-5
references: 20436464
references: Genome Biol. 2007;8(1):R13
references: 17241472
references: Adv Parasitol. 2010;73:197-230
references: 20627144
references: Electrophoresis. 2012 Mar;33(5):797-814
references: 22522536
references: Bioinformatics. 2009 Aug 15;25(16):2078-9
references: 19505943
references: Nat Biotechnol. 2011 Jul;29(7):644-52
references: 21572440
references: Annu Rev Pathol. 2006;1:497-536
references: 18039124
references: Nucleic Acids Res. 2009 Jan;37(1):289-97
references: 19042974
references: BMC Bioinformatics. 2004 May 14;5:59
references: 15144565
references: Exp Parasitol. 2011 Jan;127(1):142-6
references: 20691683
references: Dev Cell. 2012 Nov 13;23(5):1072-80
references: 23123092
references: Science. 2007 Sep 21;317(5845):1756-60
references: 17885136
references: Vet Parasitol. 2013 Apr 15;193(4):365-74
references: 23351972
references: Genome Biol. 2010;11(3):R25
references: 20196867
references: Parasitol Today. 1999 Mar;15(3):116-22
references: 10322325
references: Genome Biol. 2013;14(4):R36
references: 23618408
references: Int J Parasitol. 2014 Jan;44(1):1-8
references: 24095839
references: Parasitol Res. 2009 Mar;104(4):939-43
references: 19096878
references: Mol Genet Genomics. 2013 Jun;288(5-6):243-60
references: 23572074
references: Genome Biol. 2006;7 Suppl 1:S11.1-8
references: 16925833
references: Adv Parasitol. 2001;48:285-375
references: 11013758
references: Mol Biochem Parasitol. 2009 Sep;167(1):1-11
references: 19406170
references: Science. 2006 Mar 10;311(5766):1481-4
references: 16527984
references: Nat Genet. 2008 Feb;40(2):181-8
references: 18223650
references: Ann Trop Med Parasitol. 2010 Jan;104(1):3-23
references: 20149289
references: Acta Trop. 1997 Nov;68(2):191-200
references: 9386794
references: Parasitology. 1958 May;48(1-2):184-209
references: 13566864
references: Genetics. 2000 Sep;156(1):123-41
references: 10978280
references: Int J Parasitol. 2009 Mar;39(4):443-6
references: 18950633
references: Nucleic Acids Res. 2012 Jan;40(Database issue):D1100-7
references: 21948594
references: Stat Appl Genet Mol Biol. 2005;4:Article17
references: 16646834
references: Trends Parasitol. 2012 Sep;28(9):385-94
references: 22858281
references: Int J Parasitol. 2013 Nov;43(12-13):999-1008
references: 23954435
references: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2011 Jun;5(6):e1176
references: 21666793
references: Vet Parasitol. 2013 Apr 15;193(4):398-403
references: 23305972
references: Parasitol Res. 2010 Nov;107(6):1499-503
references: 20717832
references: Biotechnol Adv. 2011 May-Jun;29(3):338-50
references: 21262337
references: Bioinformatics. 2005 Jun;21 Suppl 1:i351-8
references: 15961478
references: Science. 1983 Aug 26;221(4613):823-8
references: 6308762
references: BMC Bioinformatics. 2008;9:559
references: 19114008
references: Vet Parasitol. 2011 Feb 10;175(3-4):193-206
references: 21095061
references: Bioinformatics. 2004 Nov 1;20(16):2878-9
references: 15145805
references: Adv Exp Med Biol. 2013;764:1-12
references: 23654053
references: Bioinformatics. 2005 Jun;21 Suppl 1:i152-8
references: 15961452