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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Pullman, Washington » Animal Disease Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #365761
Research Project: Development of Detection and Control Strategies for Bovine Babesiosis and Equine Piroplasmosis

Location: Animal Disease Research Unit

Title: Re-annotation of the Theileria parva genome refines 53% of the proteome and uncovers essential components of N-glycosylation, a conserved pathway in many organisms

Author
item TRETINA, KYLE - University Of Maryland School Of Medicine
item PELLE, ROGER - International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) - Kenya
item ORVIS, JOSHUA - University Of Maryland School Of Medicine
item GOTIA, HANZEL - University Of Maryland
item IFEONU, OLUKEMI - University Of Maryland
item KUMARI, PRITI - University Of Maryland School Of Medicine
item PALMATEER, NICHOLAS - University Of Maryland
item IQBAL, SHAIKH - University Of Maryland
item Fry, Lindsay
item NENE, VISHVANATH - International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) - Kenya
item DAUBENBERGER, CLAUDIA - University Of Basel
item BISHOP, RICHARD - Washington State University
item SILVA, JOANA - University Of Maryland

Submitted to: BMC Genomics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/18/2020
Publication Date: 4/3/2020
Citation: Tretina, K., Pelle, R., Orvis, J., Gotia, H.T., Ifeonu, O.O., Kumari, P., Palmateer, N.C., Iqbal, S.B., Fry, L.M., Nene, V.M., Daubenberger, C.A., Bishop, R.P., Silva, J.C. 2020. Re-annotation of the Theileria parva genome refines 53% of the proteome and uncovers essential components of N-glycosylation, a conserved pathway in many organisms. BMC Genomics. 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-6683-0.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-020-6683-0

Interpretive Summary: Theileria parva, an intracellular protozoan parasite, is the leading infectious cause of death of cattle in sub-Saharan Africa. Current preventive strategies are incredibly limited, and improved vaccination and treatment strategies are urgently needed to decrease the socioeconomic impact of this parasite. One significant hindrance to the development of a new vaccine or new treatment modalities is the lack of specific antigenic targets within the parasite. This work re-annotated the T. parva genome to allow for more accurate characterization of parasite genes so that new vaccine and therapeutic targets can be selected and tested. This re-annotation will enable future work in vaccine and treatment development in this disease.

Technical Abstract: Genome annotation remains a significant challenge because of limitations in the quality and quantity of the data being used, as well as the underlying biological complexity of the processes involved in gene expression. However, comprehensive and descriptive genome annotations are valuable resources for answering biological research questions and discovering novel chemotherapeutic targets for disease treatment. Here, we use our recently published RNAseq dataset derived from the schizont life-cycle stage of the apicomplexan parasite Theileria parva, which causes a devastating livestock disease in sub-Saharan Africa, to update structural and functional annotations across the entire genome. The process of re-annotation led to novel insights into gene expression in this parasite, as well as uncovers potential chemotherapeutic targets to treat infection.