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Science 15 July 2005:
Vol. 309. no. 5733, pp. 409 - 415
DOI: 10.1126/science.1112631
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Research Articles

The Genome Sequence of Trypanosoma cruzi, Etiologic Agent of Chagas Disease

Najib M. El-Sayed,1,2*{dagger} Peter J. Myler,3,4,5*{dagger} Daniella C. Bartholomeu,1 Daniel Nilsson,6 Gautam Aggarwal,3 Anh-Nhi Tran,6 Elodie Ghedin,1,2 Elizabeth A. Worthey,3 Arthur L. Delcher,1 Gaëlle Blandin,1 Scott J. Westenberger,1,7 Elisabet Caler,1 Gustavo C. Cerqueira,1,8 Carole Branche,6 Brian Haas,1 Atashi Anupama,3 Erik Arner,6 Lena Åslund,9 Philip Attipoe,3 Esteban Bontempi,6,10 Frédéric Bringaud,11 Peter Burton,12 Eithon Cadag,3 David A. Campbell,7 Mark Carrington,13 Jonathan Crabtree,1 Hamid Darban,6 Jose Franco da Silveira,14 Pieter de Jong,15 Kimberly Edwards,6 Paul T. Englund,16 Gholam Fazelina,3 Tamara Feldblyum,1 Marcela Ferella,6 Alberto Carlos Frasch,17 Keith Gull,18 David Horn,19 Lihua Hou,1 Yiting Huang,3 Ellen Kindlund,6 Michele Klingbeil,20 Sindy Kluge,6 Hean Koo,1 Daniela Lacerda,1,21 Mariano J. Levin,22 Hernan Lorenzi,22 Tin Louie,3 Carlos Renato Machado,8 Richard McCulloch,12 Alan McKenna,6 Yumi Mizuno,6 Jeremy C. Mottram,12 Siri Nelson,3 Stephen Ochaya,6 Kazutoyo Osoegawa,15 Grace Pai,1 Marilyn Parsons,3,4 Martin Pentony,3 Ulf Pettersson,9 Mihai Pop,1 Jose Luis Ramirez,23 Joel Rinta,3 Laura Robertson,3 Steven L. Salzberg,1 Daniel O. Sanchez,17 Amber Seyler,3 Reuben Sharma,13 Jyoti Shetty,1 Anjana J. Simpson,1 Ellen Sisk,3 Martti T. Tammi,6,24 Rick Tarleton,25 Santuza Teixeira,8 Susan Van Aken,1 Christy Vogt,3 Pauline N. Ward,12 Bill Wickstead,18 Jennifer Wortman,1 Owen White,1 Claire M. Fraser,1 Kenneth D. Stuart,3,4 Björn Andersson6{dagger}

Whole-genome sequencing of the protozoan pathogen Trypanosoma cruzi revealed that the diploid genome contains a predicted 22,570 proteins encoded by genes, of which 12,570 represent allelic pairs. Over 50% of the genome consists of repeated sequences, such as retrotransposons and genes for large families of surface molecules, which include trans-sialidases, mucins, gp63s, and a large novel family (>1300 copies) of mucin-associated surface protein (MASP) genes. Analyses of the T. cruzi, T. brucei, and Leishmania major (Tritryp) genomes imply differences from other eukaryotes in DNA repair and initiation of replication and reflect their unusual mitochondrial DNA. Although the Tritryp lack several classes of signaling molecules, their kinomes contain a large and diverse set of protein kinases and phosphatases; their size and diversity imply previously unknown interactions and regulatory processes, which may be targets for intervention.

1 Department of Parasite Genomics, The Institute for Genomic Research, Rockville, MD 20850, USA.
2 Department of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
3 Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
4 Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
5 Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
6 Center for Genomics and Bioinformatics, Karolinska Institutet, Berzelius väg 35, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
7 Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
8 Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
9 Department of Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, SE-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.
10 Instituto Nacional de Parasitología Dr. M. Fatala Chabén, Administración Nacional de Laboratories e Insitutos de Salud (ANLIS), 1063, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
11 Laboratoire de Génomique Fonctionnelle des Trypanosomatides, UMR-CNRS 5162, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, 33076 Bordeaux Cedex, France.
12 Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G11 6NU, Scotland, UK.
13 Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1GA, UK.
14 Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, CEP 04023–062, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
15 BACPAC Resources, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, CA 94609, USA.
16 Department of Biological Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
17 Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas–Instituto Tecnológico de Chascómús, National University of San Martin and National Research Council, 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
18 Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RE, UK.
19 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK.
20 Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
21 René Rachou Research Center/CPqRR, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil.
22 Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Chagas Disease, Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular, National Research Council (CONICET-CYTED project), School of Sciences, Centro de Genomica Aplicada-CeGA-University of Buenos Aires, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina.
23 Instituto de Biología Experimental, Universidad Central de Venezuela and ADEA-MCT, 1041-A Caracas, Venezuela.
24 Departments of Biological Sciences and Biochemistry, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
25 Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: nelsayed{at}tigr.org (N.M.E.-S.); peter.myler{at}sbri.org (P.J.M.); bjorn.andersson{at}cgb.ki.se (B.A.)

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