Comparative genomics of the major parasitic worms

• Published in: Nature genetics Vol. 51; no. 1; pp. 163 - 174
• Main Authors: Coghlan, Avril, Tyagi, Rahul, Cotton, James A, Holroyd, Nancy, Rosa, Bruce A, Tsai, Isheng Jason, Laetsch, Dominik R, Beech, Robin N, Day, Tim A, Hallsworth-Pepin, Kymberlie, Ke, Huei-Mien, Kuo, Tzu-Hao, Lee, Tracy J, Martin, John, Maizels, Rick M, Mutowo, Prudence, Ozersky, Philip, Parkinson, John, Reid, Adam J, Rawlings, Neil D, Ribeiro, Diogo M, Swapna, Lakshmipuram Seshadri, Stanley, Eleanor, Taylor, David W, Wheeler, Nicolas J, Zamanian, Mostafa, Zhang, Xu, Allan, Fiona, Allen, Judith E, Asano, Kazuhito, Babayan, Simon A, Bah, Germanus, Beasley, Helen, Bennett, Hayley M, Bisset, Stewart A, Castillo, Estela, Cook, Joseph, Cooper, Philip J, Cruz-Bustos, Teresa, Cuéllar, Carmen, Devaney, Eileen, Doyle, Stephen R, Eberhard, Mark L, Emery, Aidan, Eom, Keeseon S, Gilleard, John S, Gordon, Daria, Harcus, Yvonne, Harsha, Bhavana, Hawdon, John M, Hill, Dolores E, Hodgkinson, Jane, Horák, Petr, Howe, Kevin L, Huckvale, Thomas, Kalbe, Martin, Kaur, Gaganjot, Kikuchi, Taisei, Koutsovoulos, Georgios, Kumar, Sujai, Leach, Andrew R, Lomax, Jane, Makepeace, Benjamin, Matthews, Jacqueline B, Muro, Antonio, O'Boyle, Noel Michael, Olson, Peter D, Osuna, Antonio, Partono, Felix, Pfarr, Kenneth, Rinaldi, Gabriel, onda, Pilar, Rollinson, David, Samblas, Mercedes Gomez, Sato, Hiroshi, Schnyder, Manuela, Scholz, Tomáš, Shafie, Myriam, Tanya, Vincent N, Toledo, Rafael, Tracey, Alan, Urban, Joseph F, Wang, Lian-Chen, Zarlenga, Dante, Blaxter, Mark L, Mitreva, Makedonka, Berriman, Matthew
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.01.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 45/23; 631/114/2184; 631/114/2785; 631/154; 631/208/212; 692/699/255/1715; Acids; Agriculture; Animal Genetics and Genomics; Animals; Annotations; Bioinformatics; Biology; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Births; Cancer Research; Comparative studies; Crop production; Drug development; Environmental Sciences; Enzymes; Family relations; Flatworms; Gene families; Gene Function; Genes; Genetic aspects; Genome - genetics; Genomes; Genomics; Genomics - methods; Health aspects; Helminths; Helminths - genetics; Human Genetics; Humans; Immune response; Infections; Legal fees; Life Sciences; Metabolism; Migration; Nematoda - genetics; Nematodes; Parasites; Parasitism; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; Physiological aspects; Protein families; Protein turnover; Proteins; Roundworms; Tropical diseases; Worms
• ISSN: 1061-4036; 1546-1718
• DOI: 10.1038/s41588-018-0262-1

Parasitic nematodes (roundworms) and platyhelminths (flatworms) cause debilitating chronic infections of humans and animals, decimate crop production and are a major impediment to socioeconomic development. Here we report a broad comparative study of 81 genomes of parasitic and non-parasitic worms. We have identified gene family births and hundreds of expanded gene families at key nodes in the phylogeny that are relevant to parasitism. Examples include gene families that modulate host immune responses, enable parasite migration though host tissues or allow the parasite to feed. We reveal extensive lineage-specific differences in core metabolism and protein families historically targeted for drug development. From an in silico screen, we have identified and prioritized new potential drug targets and compounds for testing. This comparative genomics resource provides a much-needed boost for the research community to understand and combat parasitic worms. Comparative study of 81 genomes of parasitic and non-parasitic worms identifies gene family births and expanded gene families at key nodes in the phylogeny that are relevant to parasitism and proteins historically targeted for drug development.