Comparative Genomics of Trypanosomatid Parasitic Protozoa

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 309; no. 5733; pp. 404 - 409
• Main Authors: El-Sayed, Najib M, Myler, Peter J, Blandin, Gae̊lle, Berriman, Matthew, Crabtree, Jonathan, Aggarwal, Gautam, Caler, Elisabet, Renauld, Hubert, Worthey, Elizabeth A, Hertz-Fowler, Christiane, Ghedin, Elodie, Peacock, Christopher, Bartholomeu, Daniella C, Haas, Brian J, Tran, Anh-Nhi, Wortman, Jennifer R, Alsmark, U. Cecilia M, Angiuoli, Samuel, Anupama, Atashi, Badger, Jonathan, Bringaud, Frederic, Cadag, Eithon, Carlton, Jane M, Cerqueira, Gustavo C, Creasy, Todd, Delcher, Arthur L, Djikeng, Appolinaire, Embley, T. Martin, Hauser, Christopher, Ivens, Alasdair C, Kummerfeld, Sarah K, Pereira-Leal, Jose B, Nilsson, Daniel, Peterson, Jeremy, Salzberg, Steven L, Shallom, Joshua, Silva, Joana C, Sundaram, Jaideep, Westenberger, Scott, White, Owen, Melville, Sara E, Donelson, John E, Andersson, Björn, Stuart, Kenneth D, Hall, Neil
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Association for the Advancement of Science 15.07.2005; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Algorithms; Animals; Antigens; Biological Evolution; chromosome mapping; Chromosomes; Chromosomes - genetics; Coding; Cogs; Disproportionate Representation; evolution; Evolution, Molecular; Freshwater; Gene Transfer, Horizontal; Genes; Genes, Protozoan; Genetic aspects; genome; Genome, Protozoan; Genomes; Genomics; Leishmania major; Leishmania major - chemistry; Leishmania major - genetics; Leishmania major - metabolism; Leishmaniasis; Molecular Biology; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; Mutation; Parasite hosts; Parasites; Parasitic protozoa; Parasitism; Pathogens; Phylogeny; Plastids - genetics; Proteome; Protozoan Proteins - chemistry; Protozoan Proteins - genetics; Protozoan Proteins - physiology; Recombination, Genetic; Retroelements; Retrotransposons; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Species Specificity; surface antigens; Symbiosis; Synteny; Telomere - genetics; Trypanosoma brucei; Trypanosoma brucei brucei - chemistry; Trypanosoma brucei brucei - genetics; Trypanosoma brucei brucei - metabolism; Trypanosoma cruzi; Trypanosoma cruzi - chemistry; Trypanosoma cruzi - genetics; Trypanosoma cruzi - metabolism
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1112181

A comparison of gene content and genome architecture of Trypanosoma brucei, Trypanosoma cruzi, and Leishmania major, three related pathogens with different life cycles and disease pathology, revealed a conserved core proteome of about 6200 genes in large syntenic polycistronic gene clusters. Many species-specific genes, especially large surface antigen families, occur at nonsyntenic chromosome-internal and subtelomeric regions. Retroelements, structural RNAs, and gene family expansion are often associated with syntenic discontinuities that--along with gene divergence, acquisition and loss, and rearrangement within the syntenic regions--have shaped the genomes of each parasite. Contrary to recent reports, our analyses reveal no evidence that these species are descended from an ancestor that contained a photosynthetic endosymbiont.