Genome sequencing and comparative genomics of honey bee microsporidia, Nosema apis reveal novel insights into host-parasite interactions

BMC Genomics

Research Article

Andony P Melathopoulos¹  Stephen F Pernal¹  Huoqing Zheng²  Shaokang Huang³  Xuan Zhang⁴  Luke J Tallon⁵  Xinyue Liu⁵  Lisa D Sadzewicz⁵  Xianghe Yan⁶  Jeffery S Pettis⁷  Michele C Hamilton⁷  Jay D Evans⁷  Yan ping Chen⁷  Yan Zhao⁸  Renhua Li⁹ 

[1] Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, Beaverlodge Research Farm, Beaverlodge, AB, Canada;College of Animal Sciences, Zhejiang University, 310058, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, P.R. China;College of Bee Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, 350002, Fuzhou, Fujian, P.R. China;Eastern Bee Research Institute of Yunnan Agriculture University, 650201, Kunming, Yunnan, P.R. China;The Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 21202, Baltimore, MD, USA;The Molecular Characterization of Foodborne Pathogens Unit, Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC), 19038, Wyndmoor, PA, USA;USDA-ARS Bee Research Laboratory, Building 476 BARC-East, 20705, Beltsville, MD, USA;USDA-ARS Molecular Plant Pathology Laboratory, 20705, Beltsville, MD, USA;Windber Research Institute, 620 7th Street, 15963, Windber, PA, USA;

关键词: Microsporidia;    Nosema;    Honey bees;    Genome;    Comparative genomics;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2164-14-451

 received in 2013-03-14, accepted in 2013-07-01,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe microsporidia parasite Nosema contributes to the steep global decline of honey bees that are critical pollinators of food crops. There are two species of Nosema that have been found to infect honey bees, Nosema apis and N. ceranae. Genome sequencing of N. apis and comparative genome analysis with N. ceranae, a fully sequenced microsporidia species, reveal novel insights into host-parasite interactions underlying the parasite infections.ResultsWe applied the whole-genome shotgun sequencing approach to sequence and assemble the genome of N. apis which has an estimated size of 8.5 Mbp. We predicted 2,771 protein- coding genes and predicted the function of each putative protein using the Gene Ontology. The comparative genomic analysis led to identification of 1,356 orthologs that are conserved between the two Nosema species and genes that are unique characteristics of the individual species, thereby providing a list of virulence factors and new genetic tools for studying host-parasite interactions. We also identified a highly abundant motif in the upstream promoter regions of N. apis genes. This motif is also conserved in N. ceranae and other microsporidia species and likely plays a role in gene regulation across the microsporidia.ConclusionsThe availability of the N. apis genome sequence is a significant addition to the rapidly expanding body of microsprodian genomic data which has been improving our understanding of eukaryotic genome diversity and evolution in a broad sense. The predicted virulent genes and transcriptional regulatory elements are potential targets for innovative therapeutics to break down the life cycle of the parasite.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Chen et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013