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The Genome of the Kinetoplastid Parasite, Leishmania major
Alasdair C. Ivens,1*Christopher S. Peacock,1Elizabeth A. Worthey,2Lee Murphy,1Gautam Aggarwal,2Matthew Berriman,1Ellen Sisk,2Marie-Adele Rajandream,1Ellen Adlem,1Rita Aert,3Atashi Anupama,2Zina Apostolou,4Philip Attipoe,2Nathalie Bason,1Christopher Bauser,5Alfred Beck,6Stephen M. Beverley,7Gabriella Bianchettin,8Katja Borzym,6Gordana Bothe,5Carlo V. Bruschi,8,9Matt Collins,1Eithon Cadag,2Laura Ciarloni,8Christine Clayton,10Richard M. R. Coulson,11Ann Cronin,1Angela K. Cruz,12Robert M. Davies,1Javier De Gaudenzi,13Deborah E. Dobson,7Andreas Duesterhoeft,14Gholam Fazelina,2Nigel Fosker,1Alberto Carlos Frasch,13Audrey Fraser,1Monika Fuchs,4Claudia Gabel,4Arlette Goble,1André Goffeau,15David Harris,1Christiane Hertz-Fowler,1Helmut Hilbert,14David Horn,16Yiting Huang,2Sven Klages,6Andrew Knights,1Michael Kube,6Natasha Larke,1Lyudmila Litvin,2Angela Lord,1Tin Louie,2Marco Marra,17David Masuy,15Keith Matthews,18Shulamit Michaeli,19Jeremy C. Mottram,20Silke Müller-Auer,4Heather Munden,2Siri Nelson,2Halina Norbertczak,1Karen Oliver,1Susan O'Neil,1Martin Pentony,2Thomas M. Pohl,5Claire Price,1Bénédicte Purnelle,15Michael A. Quail,1Ester Rabbinowitsch,1Richard Reinhardt,6Michael Rieger,4Joel Rinta,2Johan Robben,3Laura Robertson,2Jeronimo C. Ruiz,12Simon Rutter,1David Saunders,1Melanie Schäfer,4Jacquie Schein,17David C. Schwartz,21Kathy Seeger,1Amber Seyler,2Sarah Sharp,1Heesun Shin,17Dhileep Sivam,2Rob Squares,1Steve Squares,1Valentina Tosato,8Christy Vogt,2Guido Volckaert,3Rolf Wambutt,22Tim Warren,1Holger Wedler,14John Woodward,1Shiguo Zhou,21Wolfgang Zimmermann,22Deborah F. Smith,23Jenefer M. Blackwell,24Kenneth D. Stuart,2,25Bart Barrell,1Peter J. Myler2,25,26*
Leishmania species cause a spectrum of human diseases in tropicaland subtropical regions of the world. We have sequenced the36 chromosomes of the 32.8-megabase haploid genome of Leishmaniamajor (Friedlin strain) and predict 911 RNA genes, 39 pseudogenes,and 8272 protein-coding genes, of which 36% can be ascribeda putative function. These include genes involved in host-pathogeninteractions, such as proteolytic enzymes, and extensive machineryfor synthesis of complex surface glycoconjugates. The organizationof protein-coding genes into long, strand-specific, polycistronicclusters and lack of general transcription factors in the L.major, Trypanosoma brucei, and Trypanosoma cruzi (Tritryp) genomessuggest that the mechanisms regulating RNA polymerase II–directedtranscription are distinct from those operating in other eukaryotes,although the trypanosomatids appear capable of chromatin remodeling.Abundant RNA-binding proteins are encoded in the Tritryp genomes,consistent with active posttranscriptional regulation of geneexpression.
1 Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire CB10 1SA, UK. 2 Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI), 307 Westlake Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109–2591, USA. 3 Laboratory of Gene Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 21, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. 4 GENOTYPE GmbH, Angelhofweg 39, D-69259 Wilhelmsfeld, Germany. 5 GATC Biotech AG, Jakob-Stadler-Platz 7, 78467 Konstanz, Germany. 6 Max-Planck-Institut für Molekulare Genetik, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195, Berlin (Dahlem), Germany. 7 Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110–1093, USA. 8 Genomics Group–Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biology, University of Trieste, P. le Valmaura, 9, I-34148 Trieste, Italy. 9 International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, AREA Science Park–W, Padriciano 99, I-34012 Trieste, Italy. 10 Zentrum für Molekulare Biologie, Im Neueheimer Feld 282, D69120 Heidelberg, Germany. 11 European Molecular Biology Laboratory–European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK. 12 Departamento de Biologia Celular e Molecular e Bioagentes Patogenicos, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, CEP 14049–900 Ribeirao Preto, Sao Paulo, Brazil. 13 Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnologicas (IIB-INTECH), University of San Martin and National Research Council (CONICET), Av. Gral Paz 5445, 1650 Buenos Aires, Argentina. 14 QIAGEN GmbH, QIAGEN Strasse 1, 40724 Hilden, Germany. 15 Unité de Biochimie Physiologique, Institut des Sciences de la Vie, Université Catholique de Louvain, place Croix du Sud, 2/20, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. 16 London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK. 17 Genome Sequence Centre, British Columbia Cancer Agency Genome Sciences Centre, 600 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z-4E6, Canada. 18 Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JT, UK. 19 Faculty of Life Sciences, BarIlan University, Ramat-Gan, 52900 Israel. 20 Wellcome Centre for Molecular Parasitology, University of Glasgow, 56 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow G11 6NU, UK. 21 UW Biotechnology Center, Laboratory for Molecular and Computational Genomics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 425 Henry Mall, Madison, WI 53706, USA. 22 Agowa GmbH, Glienicker Weg 185, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. 23 Immunology and Infection Unit, Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK. 24 Cambridge Institute for Medical Research, Wellcome Trust/MRC Building, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2XY, UK. 25 Department of Pathobiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA. 26 Division of Biomedical and Health Informatics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: alicat{at}sanger.ac.uk (A.C.I.), peter.myler{at}sbri.org (P.J.M.)
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