A systematically improved high quality genome and transcriptome of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni.

Protasio, A. V. et al. (2012) A systematically improved high quality genome and transcriptome of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 6(1), e1455. (doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001455) (PMID:22253936) (PMCID:PMC3254664)

Abstract

Schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases, affecting millions of people in developing countries. Amongst the human-infective species, Schistosoma mansoni is also the most commonly used in the laboratory and here we present the systematic improvement of its draft genome. We used Sanger capillary and deep-coverage Illumina sequencing from clonal worms to upgrade the highly fragmented draft 380 Mb genome to one with only 885 scaffolds and more than 81% of the bases organised into chromosomes. We have also used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) from four time points in the parasite's life cycle to refine gene predictions and profile their expression. More than 45% of predicted genes have been extensively modified and the total number has been reduced from 11,807 to 10,852. Using the new version of the genome, we identified trans-splicing events occurring in at least 11% of genes and identified clear cases where it is used to resolve polycistronic transcripts. We have produced a high-resolution map of temporal changes in expression for 9,535 genes, covering an unprecedented dynamic range for this organism. All of these data have been consolidated into a searchable format within the GeneDB (www.genedb.org) and SchistoDB (www.schistodb.net) databases. With further transcriptional profiling and genome sequencing increasingly accessible, the upgraded genome will form a fundamental dataset to underpin further advances in schistosome research.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Otto, Professor Thomas
• Authors: Protasio, A. V., Tsai, I. J., Babbage, A., Nichol, S., Hunt, M., Aslett, M. A., De Silva, N., Velarde, G. S., Anderson, T. J. C., Clark, R. C., Davidson, C., Dillon, G. P., Holroyd, N. E., LoVerde, P. T., Lloyd, C., McQuillan, J., Oliveira, G., Otto, T. D., Parker-Manuel, S. J., Quail, M. A., Wilson, R. A., Zerlotini, A., Dunne, D. W., and Berriman, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• ISSN: 1935-2727
• ISSN (Online): 1935-2735
• Copyright Holders: Copyright ©2010 The Authors
• First Published: First published in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 6(1):e1455
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License