Genome of the Host-Cell Transforming Parasite Theileria annulata Compared with T. parva

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2005-07, Vol.309 (5731), p.131-133
• Main Authors: Pain, Arnab, Renauld, Hubert, Berriman, Matthew, Murphy, Lee, Yeats, Corin A, Weir, William, Kerhornou, Arnaud, Aslett, Martin, Bishop, Richard, Bouchier, Christiane, Cochet, Madeleine, Coulson, Richard M. R, Cronin, Ann, de Villiers, Etienne P, Fraser, Audrey, Fosker, Nigel, Gardner, Malcolm, Goble, Arlette, Griffiths-Jones, Sam, Harris, David E, Katzer, Frank, Larke, Natasha, Lord, Angela, Maser, Pascal, McKellar, Sue, Mooney, Paul, Morton, Fraser, Nene, Vishvanath, O'Neil, Susan, Price, Claire, Quail, Michael A, Rabbinowitsch, Ester, Rawlings, Neil D, Rutter, Simon, Saunders, David, Seeger, Kathy, Shah, Trushar, Squares, Robert, Squares, Steven, Tivey, Adrian, Walker, Alan R, Woodward, John, Dobbelaere, Dirk A. E, Langsley, Gordon, Rajandream, Marie-Adele, McKeever, Declan, Shiels, Brian, Tait, Andrew, Barrell, Bart, Hall, Neil
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amino Acid Motifs; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Cattle; cell invasion; Cell Proliferation; Chromosome Mapping; Chromosomes; Chromosomes - genetics; Coding; Conserved Sequence; cytopathogenicity; Eukaryotes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genes; Genes, Protozoan; genome; Genome, Protozoan; Genomes; Genomics; Life Cycle Stages; Life cycle. Host-agent relationship. Pathogenesis; Lipid Metabolism; lymphocytes; Lymphocytes - cytology; Lymphocytes - parasitology; Merozoites; Molecular Sequence Data; Multigene Family; nucleotide sequences; Open reading frames; Parasite hosts; Parasites; Parasitic protozoa; Parasitism; Pathogens; Phylogeny; polypeptides; Protein Sorting Signals - genetics; Protein Structure, Tertiary; Proteins; Proteome; Protozoa; Protozoan Proteins - chemistry; Protozoan Proteins - genetics; Protozoan Proteins - physiology; Protozoans; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Species Specificity; Synteny; Telomere - genetics; Theileria annulata; Theileria annulata - genetics; Theileria annulata - growth & development; Theileria annulata - immunology; Theileria annulata - pathogenicity; Theileria parva; Theileria parva - genetics; Theileria parva - growth & development; Theileria parva - immunology; Theileria parva - pathogenicity; theileriosis
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1110418

Theileria annulata and T. parva are closely related protozoan parasites that cause lymphoproliferative diseases of cattle. We sequenced the genome of T. annulata and compared it with that of T. parva to understand the mechanisms underlying transformation and tropism. Despite high conservation of gene sequences and synteny, the analysis reveals unequally expanded gene families and species-specific genes. We also identify divergent families of putative secreted polypeptides that may reduce immune recognition, candidate regulators of host-cell transformation, and a Theileria-specific protein domain [frequently associated in Theileria (FAINT)] present in a large number of secreted proteins.