Schistosoma mansoni genome project: an update

TitleSchistosoma mansoni genome project: an update
Publication TypeJournal Articles
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsLoVerde PT, Hirai H, Merrick JM, Lee NH, El‐Sayed NM
JournalParasitology InternationalParasitology International
Volume53
Type of Article16/j.parint.2004.01.009
ISBN Number1383-5769
KeywordsChromosome mapping, Gene discovery, Genomics, Schistosoma mansoni
Abstract

A schistosome genome project was initiated by the World Health Organization in 1994 with the notion that the best prospects for identifying new targets for drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic development lie in schistosome gene discovery, development of chromosome maps, whole genome sequencing and genome analysis. Schistosoma mansoni has a haploid genome of 270 Mb contained on 8 pairs of chromosomes. It is estimated that the S. mansoni genome contains between 15 000 and 25 000 genes. There are approximately 16 689 ESTs obtained from diverse libraries representing different developmental stages of S. mansoni, deposited in the NCBI EST database. More than half of the deposited sequences correspond to genes of unknown function. Approximately 40-50% of the sequences form unique clusters, suggesting that approximately 20-25% of the total schistosome genes have been discovered. Efforts to develop low resolution chromosome maps are in progress. There is a genome sequencing program underway that will provide 3X sequence coverage of the S. mansoni genome that will result in approximately 95% gene discovery. The genomics era has provided the resources to usher in the era of functional genomics that will involve microarrays to focus on specific metabolic pathways, proteomics to identify relevant proteins and protein-protein interactions to understand critical parasite pathways. Functional genomics is expected to accelerate the development of control and treatment strategies for schistosomiasis.