The genomic basis of parasitism in the Strongyloides clade of nematodes

Hunt, V. L. et al. (2016) The genomic basis of parasitism in the Strongyloides clade of nematodes. Nature Genetics, 48(3), pp. 299-307. (doi: 10.1038/ng.3495) (PMID:26829753) (PMCID:PMC4948059)

Abstract

Soil-transmitted nematodes, including the Strongyloides genus, cause one of the most prevalent neglected tropical diseases. Here we compare the genomes of four Strongyloides species, including the human pathogen Strongyloides stercoralis, and their close relatives that are facultatively parasitic (Parastrongyloides trichosuri) and free-living (Rhabditophanes sp. KR3021). A significant paralogous expansion of key gene families—families encoding astacin-like and SCP/TAPS proteins—is associated with the evolution of parasitism in this clade. Exploiting the unique Strongyloides life cycle, we compare the transcriptomes of the parasitic and free-living stages and find that these same gene families are upregulated in the parasitic stages, underscoring their role in nematode parasitism.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Cotton, Professor James and Wastling, Prof Jonathan and Berriman, Professor Matt
• Authors: Hunt, V. L., Tsai, I. J., Coghlan, A., Reid, A. J., Holroyd, N., Foth, B. J., Tracey, A., Cotton, J. A., Stanley, E. J., Beasley, H., Bennett, H. M., Brooks, K., Harsha, B., Kajitani, R., Kulkarni, A., Harbecke, D., Nagayasu, E., Nichol, S., Ogura, Y., Quail, M. A., Randle, N., Xia, D., Brattig, N. W., Soblik, H., Ribeiro, B. M., Sanchez-Flores, A., Hayashi, T., Itoh, T., Denver, D. R., Grant, W., Stoltzfus, J. D., Lok, J. B., Murayama, H., Wastling, J., Streit, A., Kikuchi, T., Viney, M., and Berriman, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Infection & Immunity
• Journal Name: Nature Genetics
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 1061-4036
• ISSN (Online): 1546-1718
• Published Online: 01 February 2016
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 Nature America, Inc.
• First Published: First published in Nature Genetics 48(3): 299-307
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License