1
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Bayona-Vásquez NJ, Sullivan AH, Beaudry MS, Khan A, Baptista RP, Petersen KN, Bhuiyan M, Brunelle B, Robinson G, Chalmers RM, Alves-Ferreira E, Grigg ME, AlvesFerreira Kissinger JC, Glenn TC. WHOLE GENOME TARGETED ENRICHMENT AND SEQUENCING OF HUMAN-INFECTING CRYPTOSPORIDIUM spp. bioRxiv 2024:2024.03.29.586458. [PMID: 38585809 PMCID: PMC10996700 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.29.586458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Cryptosporidium spp. are protozoan parasites that cause severe illness in vulnerable human populations. Obtaining pure Cryptosporidium DNA from clinical and environmental samples is challenging because the oocysts shed in contaminated feces are limited in quantity, difficult to purify efficiently, may derive from multiple species, and yield limited DNA (<40 fg/oocyst). Here, we develop and validate a set of 100,000 RNA baits (CryptoCap_100k) based on six human-infecting Cryptosporidium spp. ( C. cuniculus , C. hominis , C. meleagridis , C. parvum , C. tyzzeri , and C. viatorum ) to enrich Cryptosporidium spp. DNA from a wide array of samples. We demonstrate that CryptoCap_100k increases the percentage of reads mapping to target Cryptosporidium references in a wide variety of scenarios, increasing the depth and breadth of genome coverage, facilitating increased accuracy of detecting and analyzing species within a given sample, while simultaneously decreasing costs, thereby opening new opportunities to understand the complex biology of these important pathogens.
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2
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Penumarthi LR, Baptista RP, Beaudry MS, Glenn TC, Kissinger JC. A new chromosome-level genome assembly and annotation of Cryptosporidium meleagridis. bioRxiv 2024:2024.02.16.580748. [PMID: 38405792 PMCID: PMC10888889 DOI: 10.1101/2024.02.16.580748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/27/2024]
Abstract
Cryptosporidium spp. are medically and scientifically relevant protozoan parasites that cause severe diarrheal illness in infants and immunosuppressed populations as well as animals. Although most human Cryptosporidium infections are caused by C. parvum and C. hominis, there are several other human-infecting species including C. meleagridis, which is commonly observed in developing countries. Here, we polished and annotated a long-read genome sequence assembly for C. meleagridis TU1867, a species which infects birds and humans. The genome sequence was generated using a combination of whole genome amplification (WGA) and long-read Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing. The assembly was then polished with Illumina data. The chromosome-level genome assembly is 9.2 Mbp with a contig N50 of 1.1 Mb. Annotation revealed 3,923 protein-coding genes. A BUSCO analysis indicates a completeness of 96.6% (n=446), including 430 (96.4%) single-copy and 1 (0.224%) duplicated apicomplexan conserved gene(s). The new C. meleagridis genome assembly is nearly gap-free and provides a valuable new resource for the Cryptosporidium community and future studies on evolution and host-specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lasya R Penumarthi
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia. 30602, USA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia. 30602, USA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Megan S Beaudry
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia. Athens, GA, USA
| | - Travis C Glenn
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia. 30602, USA
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia. Athens, GA, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Jessica C Kissinger
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia. 30602, USA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia. Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
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3
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Marques-da-Silva C, Schmidt-Silva C, Baptista RP, Kurup SP. Inherently Reduced Expression of ASC Restricts Caspase-1 Processing in Hepatocytes and Promotes Plasmodium Infection. J Immunol 2024; 212:596-606. [PMID: 38149914 PMCID: PMC10872340 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.2300440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023]
Abstract
Inflammasome-mediated caspase-1 activation facilitates innate immune control of Plasmodium in the liver, thereby limiting the incidence and severity of clinical malaria. However, caspase-1 processing occurs incompletely in both mouse and human hepatocytes and precludes the generation of mature IL-1β or IL-18, unlike in other cells. Why this is so or how it impacts Plasmodium control in the liver has remained unknown. We show that an inherently reduced expression of the inflammasome adaptor molecule apoptosis-associated specklike protein containing CARD (ASC) is responsible for the incomplete proteolytic processing of caspase-1 in murine hepatocytes. Transgenically enhancing ASC expression in hepatocytes enabled complete caspase-1 processing, enhanced pyroptotic cell death, maturation of the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-18 that was otherwise absent, and better overall control of Plasmodium infection in the liver of mice. This, however, impeded the protection offered by live attenuated antimalarial vaccination. Tempering ASC expression in mouse macrophages, on the other hand, resulted in incomplete processing of caspase-1. Our work shows how caspase-1 activation and function in host cells are fundamentally defined by ASC expression and offers a potential new pathway to create better disease and vaccination outcomes by modifying the latter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Marques-da-Silva
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Clyde Schmidt-Silva
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Samarchith P Kurup
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
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4
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Egge SL, Rizvi SA, Simar SR, Alcalde M, Martinez JRW, Hanson BM, Dinh AQ, Baptista RP, Tran TT, Shelburne SA, Munita JM, Arias CA, Hakki M, Miller WR. Cefiderocol heteroresistance associated with mutations in TonB-dependent receptor genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa of clinical origin. bioRxiv 2024:2024.01.30.578008. [PMID: 38352536 PMCID: PMC10862867 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.30.578008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/07/2024]
Abstract
The siderophore-cephalosporin cefiderocol(FDC) presents a promising treatment option for carbapenem-resistant (CR) P. aeruginosa (PA). FDC circumvents traditional porin and efflux mediated resistance by utilizing TonB-dependent receptors (TBDRs) to access the periplasmic space. Emerging FDC resistance has been associated with loss of function mutations within TBDR genes or the regulatory genes controlling TBDR expression. Further, difficulties with antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and unexpected negative clinical treatment outcomes have prompted concerns for heteroresistance, where a single lineage isolate contains resistant subpopulations not detectable by standard AST. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of TBDR mutations among clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa and the phenotypic effect on FDC susceptibility and heteroresistance. We evaluated the sequence of pirR , pirS , pirA , piuA or piuD from 498 unique isolates collected before the introduction of FDC from 4 clinical sites in Portland, OR (1), Houston, TX (2), and Santiago, Chile (1). At some clinical sites, TBDR mutations were seen in up to 25% of isolates, and insertion, deletion, or frameshift mutations were predicted to impair protein function were seen in 3% of all isolates (n=15). Using population analysis profile testing, we found that P. aeruginosa with major TBDR mutations were enriched for a heteroresistant phenotype and undergo a shift in the susceptibility distribution of the population as compared to susceptible strains with wild type TBDR genes. Our results indicate that mutations in TBDR genes predate the clinical introduction of FDC, and these mutations may predispose to the emergence of FDC resistance.
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5
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Teran N, Egge SL, Phe K, Baptista RP, Tam VH, Miller WR. The emergence of cefiderocol resistance in Pseudomonas aeruginosa from a heteroresistant isolate during prolonged therapy. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 2024; 68:e0100923. [PMID: 38063509 PMCID: PMC10777823 DOI: 10.1128/aac.01009-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/11/2024] Open
Abstract
Cefiderocol is a siderophore cephalosporin designed to target multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Previously, the emergence of cefiderocol non-susceptibility has been associated with mutations in the chromosomal cephalosporinase (PDC) along with mutations in the PirA and PiuA/D TonB-dependent receptor pathways. Here, we report a clinical case of cefiderocol-resistant P. aeruginosa that emerged in a patient during treatment. This resistance was associated with mutations not previously reported, suggesting potential novel pathways to cefiderocol resistance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas Teran
- Department of Pharmacy, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Stephanie L. Egge
- Center for Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Kady Phe
- Department of Pharmacy, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Center for Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
- Weill-Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA
| | - Vincent H. Tam
- Department of Pharmacy Practice and Translational Research, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
| | - William R. Miller
- Center for Infectious Diseases Research, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, Texas, USA
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
- Weill-Cornell Medical College, New York, New York, USA
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6
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Shaw S, Cohn IS, Baptista RP, Xia G, Melillo B, Agyabeng-Dadzie F, Kissinger JC, Striepen B. Genetic crosses within and between species of Cryptosporidium. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2313210120. [PMID: 38147547 PMCID: PMC10769859 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313210120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2023] [Accepted: 11/12/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Parasites and their hosts are engaged in reciprocal coevolution that balances competing mechanisms of virulence, resistance, and evasion. This often leads to host specificity, but genomic reassortment between different strains can enable parasites to jump host barriers and conquer new niches. In the apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium, genetic exchange has been hypothesized to play a prominent role in adaptation to humans. The sexual lifecycle of the parasite provides a potential mechanism for such exchange; however, the boundaries of Cryptosporidium sex are currently undefined. To explore this experimentally, we established a model for genetic crosses. Drug resistance was engineered using a mutated phenylalanyl tRNA synthetase gene and marking strains with this and the previously used Neo transgene enabled selection of recombinant progeny. This is highly efficient, and genomic recombination is evident and can be continuously monitored in real time by drug resistance, flow cytometry, and PCR mapping. Using this approach, multiple loci can now be modified with ease. We demonstrate that essential genes can be ablated by crossing a Cre recombinase driver strain with floxed strains. We further find that genetic crosses are also feasible between species. Crossing Cryptosporidium parvum, a parasite of cattle and humans, and Cryptosporidium tyzzeri a mouse parasite resulted in progeny with a recombinant genome derived from both species that continues to vigorously replicate sexually. These experiments have important fundamental and translational implications for the evolution of Cryptosporidium and open the door to reverse- and forward-genetic analysis of parasite biology and host specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Shaw
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Ian S. Cohn
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Department of Medicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX77030
| | - Guoqin Xia
- Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA92037
| | - Bruno Melillo
- Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA92037
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA02142
| | | | - Jessica C. Kissinger
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30602
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30602
| | - Boris Striepen
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA19104
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7
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De Luca E, Álvarez-Narváez S, Baptista RP, Maboni G, Blas-Machado U, Sanchez S. Epidemiologic investigation and genetic characterization of canine respiratory coronavirus in the Southeastern United States. J Vet Diagn Invest 2024; 36:46-55. [PMID: 37968872 PMCID: PMC10734574 DOI: 10.1177/10406387231213662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Canine respiratory coronavirus (CRCoV) is one of the main causative agents of canine infectious respiratory disease (CIRD), an illness whose epidemiology is poorly understood. We assessed the prevalence, risk factors, and genetic characterization of CRCoV in privately owned dogs in the Southeastern United States. We PCR-screened 189 nasal swabs from dogs with and without CIRD clinical signs for 9 CIRD-related pathogens, including CRCoV; 14% of dogs, all diagnosed with CIRD, were positive for CRCoV, with a significantly higher rate of cases in younger dogs and during warmer weather. Notably, the presence of CRCoV, alone or in coinfection with other CIRD pathogens, was statistically associated with a worse prognosis. We estimated a CRCoV seroprevalence of 23.7% retrospectively from 540 serum samples, with no statistical association to dog age, sex, or season, but with a significantly higher presence in urban counties. Additionally, the genomes of 6 CRCoVs were obtained from positive samples using an in-house developed targeted amplicon-based approach specific to CRCoV. Subsequent phylogeny clustered their genomes in 2 distinct genomic groups, with most isolates sharing a higher similarity with CRCoVs from Sweden and only 1 more closely related to CRCoVs from Asia. We provide new insights into CIRD and CRCoV epidemiology in the Southeastern United States and further support the association of CRCoV with more severe cases of CIRD. Additionally, we developed and successfully tested a new amplicon-based approach for whole-genome sequencing of CRCoV that can be used to further investigate the genetic diversity within CRCoVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana De Luca
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Department of Pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Sonsiray Álvarez-Narváez
- Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Athens, GA, USA
| | | | - Grazieli Maboni
- Departments of Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Susan Sanchez
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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8
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Shaw S, Cohn IS, Baptista RP, Xia G, Melillo B, Agyabeng-Dadzie F, Kissinger JC, Striepen B. Genetic crosses within and between species of Cryptosporidium. bioRxiv 2023:2023.08.04.551960. [PMID: 37577700 PMCID: PMC10418217 DOI: 10.1101/2023.08.04.551960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
Parasites and their hosts are engaged in rapid coevolution that balances competing mechanisms of virulence, resistance, and evasion. This often leads to host specificity, but genomic reassortment between different strains can enable parasites to jump host barriers and conquer new niches. In the apicomplexan parasite Cryptosporidium genetic exchange has been hypothesized to play a prominent role in adaptation to humans. The sexual lifecycle of the parasite provides a potential mechanism for such exchange; however, the boundaries of Cryptosporidium sex are currently undefined. To explore this experimentally, we established a model for genetic crosses. Drug resistance was engineered using a mutated phenylalanyl tRNA synthetase gene and marking strains with this and the previously used Neo transgene enabled selection of recombinant progeny. This is highly efficient, and genomic recombination is evident and can be continuously monitored in real time by drug resistance, flow cytometry, and PCR mapping. Using this approach multiple loci can now be modified with ease. We demonstrate that essential genes can be ablated by crossing a Cre recombinase driver strain with floxed strains. We further find that genetic crosses are also feasible between species. Crossing C. parvum, a parasite of cattle and humans, and C. tyzzeri a mouse parasite resulted in progeny with a recombinant genome derived from both species that continues to vigorously replicate sexually. These experiments have important fundamental and translational implications for the evolution of Cryptosporidium and open the door to reverse- and forward- genetic analysis of parasite biology and host specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian Shaw
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Ian S. Cohn
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | | | - Guoqin Xia
- Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA
| | - Bruno Melillo
- Department of Chemistry, Scripps Research, La Jolla, CA
- Chemical Biology and Therapeutics Science Program, Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA
| | | | - Jessica C. Kissinger
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases and Institute of Bioinformatics University of Georgia, Athens, GA
| | - Boris Striepen
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
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9
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Marques-da-Silva C, Poudel B, Baptista RP, Peissig K, Hancox LS, Shiau JC, Pewe LL, Shears MJ, Kanneganti TD, Sinnis P, Kyle DE, Gurung P, Harty JT, Kurup SP. AIM2 sensors mediate immunity to Plasmodium infection in hepatocytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2210181120. [PMID: 36595704 PMCID: PMC9926219 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210181120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 11/18/2022] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Malaria, caused by Plasmodium parasites is a severe disease affecting millions of people around the world. Plasmodium undergoes obligatory development and replication in the hepatocytes, before initiating the life-threatening blood-stage of malaria. Although the natural immune responses impeding Plasmodium infection and development in the liver are key to controlling clinical malaria and transmission, those remain relatively unknown. Here we demonstrate that the DNA of Plasmodium parasites is sensed by cytosolic AIM2 (absent in melanoma 2) receptors in the infected hepatocytes, resulting in Caspase-1 activation. Remarkably, Caspase-1 was observed to undergo unconventional proteolytic processing in hepatocytes, resulting in the activation of the membrane pore-forming protein, Gasdermin D, but not inflammasome-associated proinflammatory cytokines. Nevertheless, this resulted in the elimination of Plasmodium-infected hepatocytes and the control of malaria infection in the liver. Our study uncovers a pathway of natural immunity critical for the control of malaria in the liver.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camila Marques-da-Silva
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
| | - Barun Poudel
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
| | - Kristen Peissig
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
| | - Lisa S. Hancox
- Department of Pathology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
| | - Justine C. Shiau
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
| | - Lecia L. Pewe
- Department of Pathology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
| | - Melanie J. Shears
- Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21205
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21205
| | | | - Photini Sinnis
- Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21205
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD21205
| | - Dennis E. Kyle
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
| | - Prajwal Gurung
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
| | - John T. Harty
- Department of Pathology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Immunology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA52242
| | - Samarchith P. Kurup
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA30605
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10
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Li Y, Baptista RP, Mei X, Kissinger JC. Small and intermediate size structural RNAs in the unicellular parasite Cryptosporidium parvum as revealed by sRNA-seq and comparative genomics. Microb Genom 2022; 8. [PMID: 35536609 PMCID: PMC9465071 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Small and intermediate-size noncoding RNAs (sRNAs and is-ncRNAs) have been shown to play important regulatory roles in the development of several eukaryotic organisms. However, they have not been thoroughly explored in Cryptosporidium parvum, an obligate zoonotic protist parasite responsible for the diarrhoeal disease cryptosporidiosis. Using Illumina sequencing of a small RNA library, a systematic identification of novel small and is-ncRNAs was performed in C. parvum excysted sporozoites. A total of 79 novel is-ncRNA candidates, including antisense, intergenic and intronic is-ncRNAs, were identified, including 7 new small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs). Expression of select novel is-ncRNAs was confirmed by RT-PCR. Phylogenetic conservation was analysed using covariance models (CMs) in related Cryptosporidium and apicomplexan parasite genome sequences. A potential new type of small ncRNA derived from tRNA fragments was observed. Overall, a deep profiling analysis of novel is-ncRNAs in C. parvum and related species revealed structural features and conservation of these novel is-ncRNAs. Covariance models can be used to detect is-ncRNA genes in other closely related parasites. These findings provide important new sequences for additional functional characterization of novel is-ncRNAs in the protist pathogen C. parvum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiran Li
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,Present address: Houston Methodist Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Xiaohan Mei
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Jessica C Kissinger
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.,Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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11
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De Luca E, Álvarez-Narváez S, Maboni G, Baptista RP, Nemeth NM, Niedringhaus KD, Ladner JT, Lorch JM, Koroleva G, Lovett S, Palacios GF, Sanchez S. Comparative Genomics Analyses Support the Reclassification of Bisgaard Taxon 40 as Mergibacter gen. nov., With Mergibacter septicus sp. nov. as Type Species: Novel Insights Into the Phylogeny and Virulence Factors of a Pasteurellaceae Family Member Associated With Mortality Events in Seabirds. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:667356. [PMID: 34880834 PMCID: PMC8645869 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.667356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2021] [Accepted: 10/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The Pasteurellaceae family has been associated with fatal diseases in numerous avian species. Several new taxa within this family, including Bisgaard taxon 40, have been recently described in wild birds, but their genomic characteristics and pathogenicity are not well understood. We isolated Bisgaard taxon 40 from four species of seabirds, including one sampled during a mass, multi-species mortality event in Florida, United States. Here, we present a comprehensive phenotypic and genetic characterization of Bisgaard taxon 40 and comparative genomic analysis with reference strains from the Pasteurellaceae family, aiming at determining its phylogenetic position, antimicrobial susceptibility profile, and identifying putative virulence factors. In silico multilocus sequence-based and whole-genome-based phylogenetic analysis clustered all Bisgaard taxon 40 strains together on a distinct branch separated from the other members of the Pasteurellaceae family, indicating that Bisgaard taxon 40 could represent a new genus. These findings were further supported by protein similarity analyses using the concatenation of 31 conserved proteins and other taxonomic approaches such as the percentage of conserved protein test. Additionally, several putative virulence factors were identified, including those associated with adhesion (capsule, ompA, ompH) and colonization (exbD, fur, galU, galE, lpxA, lpxC, and kdsA) of the host and a cytolethal distending toxin (cdt), which may have played a role in disease development leading to the mortality event. Considerably low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were found for all the drugs tested, in concordance with the absence of antimicrobial resistance genes in these genomes. The novel findings of this study highlight genomic and phenotypic characteristics of this bacterium, providing insights into genome evolution and pathogenicity. We propose a reclassification of these organisms within the Pasteurellaceae family, designated as Mergibacter gen. nov., with Mergibacter septicus sp. nov. as the type species. The type strain is Mergibacter septicus A25201T (=DSM 112696).
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana De Luca
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Sonsiray Álvarez-Narváez
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Grazieli Maboni
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Department of Pathobiology, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Nicole M Nemeth
- Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Departments of Pathology and Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Kevin D Niedringhaus
- Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study, Departments of Pathology and Population Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Jason T Ladner
- Center for Genome Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD, United States.,U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Jeffrey M Lorch
- U.S. Geological Survey, National Wildlife Health Center, Madison, WI, United States
| | - Galina Koroleva
- Center for Genome Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Sean Lovett
- Center for Genome Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Gustavo F Palacios
- Center for Genome Sciences, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD, United States
| | - Susan Sanchez
- Athens Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States.,Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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12
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Beaudry MS, Thomas JC, Baptista RP, Sullivan AH, Norfolk W, Devault A, Enk J, Kieran TJ, Rhodes OE, Perry-Dow KA, Rose LJ, Bayona-Vásquez NJ, Oladeinde A, Lipp EK, Sanchez S, Glenn TC. Escaping the fate of Sisyphus: assessing resistome hybridization baits for antimicrobial resistance gene capture. Environ Microbiol 2021; 23:7523-7537. [PMID: 34519156 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.15767] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 09/03/2021] [Accepted: 09/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Finding, characterizing and monitoring reservoirs for antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is vital to protecting public health. Hybridization capture baits are an accurate, sensitive and cost-effective technique used to enrich and characterize DNA sequences of interest, including antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs), in complex environmental samples. We demonstrate the continued utility of a set of 19 933 hybridization capture baits designed from the Comprehensive Antibiotic Resistance Database (CARD)v1.1.2 and Pathogenicity Island Database (PAIDB)v2.0, targeting 3565 unique nucleotide sequences that confer resistance. We demonstrate the efficiency of our bait set on a custom-made resistance mock community and complex environmental samples to increase the proportion of on-target reads as much as >200-fold. However, keeping pace with newly discovered ARGs poses a challenge when studying AMR, because novel ARGs are continually being identified and would not be included in bait sets designed prior to discovery. We provide imperative information on how our bait set performs against CARDv3.3.1, as well as a generalizable approach for deciding when and how to update hybridization capture bait sets. This research encapsulates the full life cycle of baits for hybridization capture of the resistome from design and validation (both in silico and in vitro) to utilization and forecasting updates and retirement.
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Affiliation(s)
- Megan S Beaudry
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Jesse C Thomas
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, 29808, USA
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Amanda H Sullivan
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - William Norfolk
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Alison Devault
- Daicel Arbor Biosciences, 5840 Interface Dr., Suite 101, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, USA
| | - Jacob Enk
- Daicel Arbor Biosciences, 5840 Interface Dr., Suite 101, Ann Arbor, MI, 48103, USA
| | - Troy J Kieran
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Olin E Rhodes
- Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, University of Georgia, Aiken, SC, 29808, USA.,Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - K Allison Perry-Dow
- Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Laura J Rose
- Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA
| | - Natalia J Bayona-Vásquez
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Division of Natural Science and Mathematics, Oxford College, Emory University, Oxford, GA, 30054, USA
| | - Adelumola Oladeinde
- Bacterial Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit, U.S. National Poultry Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Athens, GA, 30605, USA
| | - Erin K Lipp
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Susan Sanchez
- Department of Infectious Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
| | - Travis C Glenn
- Department of Environmental Health Science, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA.,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 30602, USA
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13
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Ramakrishnan S, Baptista RP, Asady B, Huang G, Docampo R. TbVps41 regulates trafficking of endocytic but not biosynthetic cargo to lysosomes of bloodstream forms of Trypanosoma brucei. FASEB J 2021; 35:e21641. [PMID: 34041791 DOI: 10.1096/fj.202100487r] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2021] [Revised: 04/15/2021] [Accepted: 04/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The bloodstream stage of Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of African trypanosomiasis, is characterized by its high rate of endocytosis, which is involved in remodeling of its surface coat. Here we present evidence that RNAi-mediated expression down-regulation of vacuolar protein sorting 41 (Vps41), a component of the homotypic fusion and vacuole protein sorting (HOPS) complex, leads to a strong inhibition of endocytosis, vesicle accumulation, enlargement of the flagellar pocket ("big eye" phenotype), and dramatic effect on cell growth. Unexpectedly, other functions described for Vps41 in mammalian cells and yeasts, such as delivery of proteins to lysosomes, and lysosome-related organelles (acidocalcisomes) were unaffected, indicating that in trypanosomes post-Golgi trafficking is distinct from that of mammalian cells and yeasts. The essentiality of TbVps41 suggests that it is a potential drug target.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Beejan Asady
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Guozhong Huang
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Roberto Docampo
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, Athens, GA, USA.,Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
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14
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Abstract
Cryptosporidiosis is ranked sixth in the list of the most important food-borne parasites globally, and it is an important contributor to mortality in infants and the immunosuppressed. Recently, the number of genome sequences available for this parasite has increased drastically. The majority of the sequences are derived from population studies of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis, the most important species causing disease in humans. Work with this parasite is challenging since it lacks an optimal, prolonged, in vitro culture system, which accurately reproduces the in vivo life cycle. This obstacle makes the cloning of isolates nearly impossible. Thus, patient isolates that are sequenced represent a population or, at times, mixed infections. Oocysts, the lifecycle stage currently used for sequencing, must be considered a population even if the sequence is derived from single-cell sequencing of a single oocyst because each oocyst contains four haploid meiotic progeny (sporozoites). Additionally, the community does not yet have a set of universal markers for strain typing that are distributed across all chromosomes. These variables pose challenges for population studies and require careful analyses to avoid biased interpretation. This review presents an overview of existing population studies, challenges, and potential solutions to facilitate future population analyses.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
| | - Garrett W. Cooper
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
| | - Jessica C. Kissinger
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA;
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15
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Namasivayam S, Baptista RP, Xiao W, Hall EM, Doggett JS, Troell K, Kissinger JC. A novel fragmented mitochondrial genome in the protist pathogen Toxoplasma gondii and related tissue coccidia. Genome Res 2021; 31:852-865. [PMID: 33906963 PMCID: PMC8092004 DOI: 10.1101/gr.266403.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2020] [Accepted: 03/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Mitochondrial genome content and structure vary widely across the eukaryotic tree of life, with protists displaying extreme examples. Apicomplexan and dinoflagellate protists have evolved highly reduced mitochondrial genome sequences, mtDNA, consisting of only three cytochrome genes and fragmented rRNA genes. Here, we report the independent evolution of fragmented cytochrome genes in Toxoplasma and related tissue coccidia and evolution of a novel genome architecture consisting minimally of 21 sequence blocks (SBs) totaling 5.9 kb that exist as nonrandom concatemers. Single-molecule Nanopore reads consisting entirely of SBs ranging from 0.1 to 23.6 kb reveal both whole and fragmented cytochrome genes. Full-length cytochrome transcripts including a divergent coxIII are detected. The topology of the mitochondrial genome remains an enigma. Analysis of a cob point mutation reveals that homoplasmy of SBs is maintained. Tissue coccidia are important pathogens of man and animals, and the mitochondrion represents an important therapeutic target. The mtDNA sequence has been elucidated, but a definitive genome architecture remains elusive.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sivaranjani Namasivayam
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Wenyuan Xiao
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Erica M Hall
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
| | - Joseph S Doggett
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA.,Division of Infectious Diseases, Veterans Affairs Portland Health Care System, Portland, Oregon 97239, USA
| | - Karin Troell
- Department of Microbiology, National Veterinary Institute, SE-751 89 Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Jessica C Kissinger
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.,Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.,Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA
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16
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Cobb DW, Kudyba HM, Villegas A, Hoopmann MR, Baptista RP, Bruton B, Krakowiak M, Moritz RL, Muralidharan V. A redox-active crosslinker reveals an essential and inhibitable oxidative folding network in the endoplasmic reticulum of malaria parasites. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009293. [PMID: 33534803 PMCID: PMC7886143 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009293] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Revised: 02/16/2021] [Accepted: 01/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Malaria remains a major global health problem, creating a constant need for research to identify druggable weaknesses in P. falciparum biology. As important components of cellular redox biology, members of the Thioredoxin (Trx) superfamily of proteins have received interest as potential drug targets in Apicomplexans. However, the function and essentiality of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized Trx-domain proteins within P. falciparum has not been investigated. We generated conditional mutants of the protein PfJ2—an ER chaperone and member of the Trx superfamily—and show that it is essential for asexual parasite survival. Using a crosslinker specific for redox-active cysteines, we identified PfJ2 substrates as PfPDI8 and PfPDI11, both members of the Trx superfamily as well, which suggests a redox-regulatory role for PfJ2. Knockdown of these PDIs in PfJ2 conditional mutants show that PfPDI11 may not be essential. However, PfPDI8 is required for asexual growth and our data suggest it may work in a complex with PfJ2 and other ER chaperones. Finally, we show that the redox interactions between these Trx-domain proteins in the parasite ER and their substrates are sensitive to small molecule inhibition. Together these data build a model for how Trx-domain proteins in the P. falciparum ER work together to assist protein folding and demonstrate the suitability of ER-localized Trx-domain proteins for antimalarial drug development. One of the leading and persistent causes of childhood mortality in the world is malaria, which is caused by parasites from the genus Plasmodium. Unfortunately, the parasite has developed resistance to all available drugs, making the discovery of new drug targets and potential small molecule inhibitors of essential parasite biology a top priority. A critical pathway required for many different biological processes in the parasite is oxidative folding which requires members of the Thioredoxin (Trx) superfamily of proteins. But we know almost nothing about the function and essentiality of Trx-domain proteins that localize to the endoplasmic reticulum, the origin of the secretory pathway, within P. falciparum. Here we show that a network of Trx-domain containing proteins function together and are essential for parasite survival within human red blood cells. Further, we identify a small molecule inhibitor of the redox activities of these Trx-domain containing proteins. This study demonstrates the suitability of this pathway for future antimalarial drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W. Cobb
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Heather M. Kudyba
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Alejandra Villegas
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Michael R. Hoopmann
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Baylee Bruton
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Michelle Krakowiak
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Robert L. Moritz
- Institute for Systems Biology, Seattle, Washington, United States of America
| | - Vasant Muralidharan
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Georgia, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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17
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Li Y, Baptista RP, Sateriale A, Striepen B, Kissinger JC. Analysis of Long Non-Coding RNA in Cryptosporidium parvum Reveals Significant Stage-Specific Antisense Transcription. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 10:608298. [PMID: 33520737 PMCID: PMC7840661 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.608298] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Cryptosporidium is a protist parasite that has been identified as the second leading cause of moderate to severe diarrhea in children younger than two and a significant cause of mortality worldwide. Cryptosporidium has a complex, obligate, intracellular but extra cytoplasmic lifecycle in a single host. How genes are regulated in this parasite remains largely unknown. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play critical regulatory roles, including gene expression across a broad range of organisms. Cryptosporidium lncRNAs have been reported to enter the host cell nucleus and affect the host response. However, no systematic study of lncRNAs in Cryptosporidium has been conducted to identify additional lncRNAs. In this study, we analyzed a C. parvum in vitro strand-specific RNA-seq developmental time series covering both asexual and sexual stages to identify lncRNAs associated with parasite development. In total, we identified 396 novel lncRNAs, mostly antisense, with 86% being differentially expressed. Surprisingly, nearly 10% of annotated mRNAs have an antisense transcript. lncRNAs occur most often at the 3' end of their corresponding sense mRNA. Putative lncRNA regulatory regions were identified and many appear to encode bidirectional promoters. A positive correlation between lncRNA and upstream mRNA expression was observed. Evolutionary conservation and expression of lncRNA candidates was observed between C. parvum, C. hominis and C. baileyi. Ten C. parvum protein-encoding genes with antisense transcripts have P. falciparum orthologs that also have antisense transcripts. Three C. parvum lncRNAs with exceptional properties (e.g., intron splicing) were experimentally validated using RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. This initial characterization of the C. parvum non-coding transcriptome facilitates further investigations into the roles of lncRNAs in parasite development and host-pathogen interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yiran Li
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Adam Sateriale
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Boris Striepen
- Department of Pathobiology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jessica C. Kissinger
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
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18
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Wang W, Peng D, Baptista RP, Li Y, Kissinger JC, Tarleton RL. Strain-specific genome evolution in Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease. PLoS Pathog 2021; 17:e1009254. [PMID: 33508020 PMCID: PMC7872254 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Revised: 02/09/2021] [Accepted: 12/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi almost invariably establishes life-long infections in humans and other mammals, despite the development of potent host immune responses that constrain parasite numbers. The consistent, decades-long persistence of T. cruzi in human hosts arises at least in part from the remarkable level of genetic diversity in multiple families of genes encoding the primary target antigens of anti-parasite immune responses. However, the highly repetitive nature of the genome-largely a result of these same extensive families of genes-have prevented a full understanding of the extent of gene diversity and its maintenance in T. cruzi. In this study, we have combined long-read sequencing and proximity ligation mapping to generate very high-quality assemblies of two T. cruzi strains representing the apparent ancestral lineages of the species. These assemblies reveal not only the full repertoire of the members of large gene families in the two strains, demonstrating extreme diversity within and between isolates, but also provide evidence of the processes that generate and maintain that diversity, including extensive gene amplification, dispersion of copies throughout the genome and diversification via recombination and in situ mutations. Gene amplification events also yield significant copy number variations in a substantial number of genes presumably not required for or involved in immune evasion, thus forming a second level of strain-dependent variation in this species. The extreme genome flexibility evident in T. cruzi also appears to create unique challenges with respect to preserving core genome functions and gene expression that sets this species apart from related kinetoplastids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Wang
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Duo Peng
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Rodrigo P. Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Yiran Li
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Jessica C. Kissinger
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
| | - Rick L. Tarleton
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
- Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, United States of America
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19
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Butler JH, Baptista RP, Valenciano AL, Zhou B, Kissinger JC, Tumwebaze PK, Rosenthal PJ, Cooper RA, Yue JM, Cassera MB. Resistance to Some But Not Other Dimeric Lindenane Sesquiterpenoid Esters Is Mediated by Mutations in a Plasmodium falciparum Esterase. ACS Infect Dis 2020; 6:2994-3003. [PMID: 32970404 PMCID: PMC11075783 DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Unique lindenane sesquiterpenoid dimers from Chloranthecae spp. were recently identified with promising in vitro antiplasmodial activity and potentially novel mechanisms of action. To gain mechanistic insights to this new class of natural products, in vitro selection of Plasmodium falciparum resistance to the most active antiplasmodial compound, chlorajaponilide C, was explored. In all selected resistant clones, the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) of chlorajaponilide C increased >250-fold, and whole genome sequencing revealed mutations in the recently discovered P. falciparum prodrug activation and resistance esterase (PfPARE). Chlorajaponilide C was highly potent (mean EC50 = 1.6 nM, n = 34) against fresh Ugandan P. falciparum isolates. The analysis of the structure-resistance relationships revealed that in vitro potency of a subset of lindenane sesquiterpenoid dimers was not mediated by PfPARE mutations. Thus, chlorajaponilide C, but not some related compounds, required parasite esterase activity for in vitro potency, and those compounds serve as the foundation for development of potent and selective antimalarials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joshua H Butler
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Ana L Valenciano
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | - Bin Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, People's Republic of China
| | - Jessica C Kissinger
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
| | | | - Philip J Rosenthal
- Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California 94110, United States
| | - Roland A Cooper
- Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Dominican University of California, San Rafael, California 94901, United States
| | - Jian-Min Yue
- State Key Laboratory of Drug Research, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201203, People's Republic of China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100864, People's Republic of China
| | - Maria B Cassera
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
- Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD), University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia 30602, United States
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20
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Li Y, Baptista RP, Kissinger JC. Noncoding RNAs in Apicomplexan Parasites: An Update. Trends Parasitol 2020; 36:835-849. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2020.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2020] [Revised: 06/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
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21
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Reis-Cunha JL, Baptista RP, Rodrigues-Luiz GF, Coqueiro-Dos-Santos A, Valdivia HO, de Almeida LV, Cardoso MS, D'Ávila DA, Dias FHC, Fujiwara RT, Galvão LMC, Chiari E, Cerqueira GC, Bartholomeu DC. Whole genome sequencing of Trypanosoma cruzi field isolates reveals extensive genomic variability and complex aneuploidy patterns within TcII DTU. BMC Genomics 2018; 19:816. [PMID: 30424726 PMCID: PMC6234542 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-018-5198-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2017] [Accepted: 10/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is currently divided into six discrete typing units (DTUs), named TcI-TcVI. TcII is among the major DTUs enrolled in human infections in South America southern cone, where it is associated with severe cardiac and digestive symptoms. Despite the importance of TcII in Chagas disease epidemiology and pathology, so far, no genome-wide comparisons of the mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of TcII field isolates have been performed to track the variability and evolution of this DTU in endemic regions. RESULTS In the present work, we have sequenced and compared the whole nuclear and mitochondrial genomes of seven TcII strains isolated from chagasic patients from the central and northeastern regions of Minas Gerais, Brazil, revealing an extensive genetic variability within this DTU. A comparison of the phylogeny based on the nuclear or mitochondrial genomes revealed that the majority of branches were shared by both sequences. The subtle divergences in the branches are probably consequence of mitochondrial introgression events between TcII strains. Two T. cruzi strains isolated from patients living in the central region of Minas Gerais, S15 and S162a, were clustered in the nuclear and mitochondrial phylogeny analysis. These two strains were isolated from the other five by the Espinhaço Mountains, a geographic barrier that could have restricted the traffic of insect vectors during T. cruzi evolution in the Minas Gerais state. Finally, the presence of aneuploidies was evaluated, revealing that all seven TcII strains have a different pattern of chromosomal duplication/loss. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of genomic variability and aneuploidies suggests that there is significant genomic variability within Minas Gerais TcII strains, which could be exploited by the parasite to allow rapid selection of favorable phenotypes. Also, the aneuploidy patterns vary among T. cruzi strains and does not correlate with the nuclear phylogeny, suggesting that chromosomal duplication/loss are recent and frequent events in the parasite evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Luís Reis-Cunha
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,The University of Georgia, Athens, USA
| | - Gabriela F Rodrigues-Luiz
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | | | - Hugo O Valdivia
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.,U.S. Naval Medical Research, Lima, Peru
| | - Laila Viana de Almeida
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Mariana Santos Cardoso
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | | | | | - Lúcia M C Galvão
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Egler Chiari
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | | | - Daniella C Bartholomeu
- Departamento de Parasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
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Fuselli S, Baptista RP, Panziera A, Magi A, Guglielmi S, Tonin R, Benazzo A, Bauzer LG, Mazzoni CJ, Bertorelle G. A new hybrid approach for MHC genotyping: high-throughput NGS and long read MinION nanopore sequencing, with application to the non-model vertebrate Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). Heredity (Edinb) 2018; 121:293-303. [PMID: 29572469 PMCID: PMC6133961 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-018-0070-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) acts as an interface between the immune system and infectious diseases. Accurate characterization and genotyping of the extremely variable MHC loci are challenging especially without a reference sequence. We designed a combination of long-range PCR, Illumina short-reads, and Oxford Nanopore MinION long-reads approaches to capture the genetic variation of the MHC II DRB locus in an Italian population of the Alpine chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra). We utilized long-range PCR to generate a 9 Kb fragment of the DRB locus. Amplicons from six different individuals were fragmented, tagged, and simultaneously sequenced with Illumina MiSeq. One of these amplicons was sequenced with the MinION device, which produced long reads covering the entire amplified fragment. A pipeline that combines short and long reads resolved several short tandem repeats and homopolymers and produced a de novo reference, which was then used to map and genotype the short reads from all individuals. The assembled DRB locus showed a high level of polymorphism and the presence of a recombination breakpoint. Our results suggest that an amplicon-based NGS approach coupled with single-molecule MinION nanopore sequencing can efficiently achieve both the assembly and the genotyping of complex genomic regions in multiple individuals in the absence of a reference sequence.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Fuselli
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.
| | - R P Baptista
- Center for Tropical & Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, 107 Paul D. Coverdell Center, 500 D. W. Brooks Drive, Athens, GA, 30602-7394, USA
| | - A Panziera
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.,Department of Biodiversity and Molecular Ecology, Research and Innovation Centre, Fondazione Edmund Mach, Via Edmund Mach 1, San Michele all'Adige, I-38010, Italy
| | - A Magi
- Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Largo Brambilla, Florence, 3-50134, Italy
| | - S Guglielmi
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy
| | - R Tonin
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy.,Faculty of Science and Technology, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Piazza Università 5, Bolzano, Italy
| | - A Benazzo
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy
| | - L G Bauzer
- Laboratório de Fisiologia e Controle de Artrópodes Vetores, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.,Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 6-8, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - C J Mazzoni
- Berlin Center for Genomics in Biodiversity Research, Königin-Luise-Str. 6-8, Berlin, 14195, Germany
| | - G Bertorelle
- Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Via L. Borsari 46, Ferrara, 44121, Italy
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23
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Baptista RP, Reis-Cunha JL, DeBarry JD, Chiari E, Kissinger JC, Bartholomeu DC, Macedo AM. Assembly of highly repetitive genomes using short reads: the genome of discrete typing unit III Trypanosoma cruzi strain 231. Microb Genom 2018; 4. [PMID: 29442617 PMCID: PMC5989580 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000156] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Next-generation sequencing (NGS) methods are low-cost high-throughput technologies that produce thousands to millions of sequence reads. Despite the high number of raw sequence reads, their short length, relative to Sanger, PacBio or Nanopore reads, complicates the assembly of genomic repeats. Many genome tools are available, but the assembly of highly repetitive genome sequences using only NGS short reads remains challenging. Genome assembly of organisms responsible for important neglected diseases such as Trypanosoma cruzi, the aetiological agent of Chagas disease, is known to be challenging because of their repetitive nature. Only three of six recognized discrete typing units (DTUs) of the parasite have their draft genomes published and therefore genome evolution analyses in the taxon are limited. In this study, we developed a computational workflow to assemble highly repetitive genomes via a combination of de novo and reference-based assembly strategies to better overcome the intrinsic limitations of each, based on Illumina reads. The highly repetitive genome of the human-infecting parasite T. cruzi 231 strain was used as a test subject. The combined-assembly approach shown in this study benefits from the reference-based assembly ability to resolve highly repetitive sequences and from the de novo capacity to assemble genome-specific regions, improving the quality of the assembly. The acceptable confidence obtained by analyzing our results showed that our combined approach is an attractive option to assemble highly repetitive genomes with NGS short reads. Phylogenomic analysis including the 231 strain, the first representative of DTU III whose genome was sequenced, was also performed and provides new insights into T. cruzi genome evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo P Baptista
- 1Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- 2Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
| | - Joao Luis Reis-Cunha
- 3Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Jeremy D DeBarry
- 1Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Egler Chiari
- 3Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Jessica C Kissinger
- 1Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
- 2Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
- 4Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, USA
| | - Daniella C Bartholomeu
- 3Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
| | - Andrea M Macedo
- 5Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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24
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Valdivia HO, Reis-Cunha JL, Rodrigues-Luiz GF, Baptista RP, Baldeviano GC, Gerbasi RV, Dobson DE, Pratlong F, Bastien P, Lescano AG, Beverley SM, Bartholomeu DC. Comparative genomic analysis of Leishmania (Viannia) peruviana and Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:715. [PMID: 26384787 PMCID: PMC4575464 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1928-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2015] [Accepted: 09/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis complex is responsible for most cases of New World tegumentary leishmaniasis. This complex includes two closely related species but with different geographic distribution and disease phenotypes, L. (V.) peruviana and L. (V.) braziliensis. However, the genetic basis of these differences is not well understood and the status of L. (V.) peruviana as distinct species has been questioned by some. Here we sequenced the genomes of two L. (V.) peruviana isolates (LEM1537 and PAB-4377) using Illumina high throughput sequencing and performed comparative analyses against the L. (V.) braziliensis M2904 reference genome. Comparisons were focused on the detection of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions and deletions (INDELs), aneuploidy and gene copy number variations. RESULTS We found 94,070 variants shared by both L. (V.) peruviana isolates (144,079 in PAB-4377 and 136,946 in LEM1537) against the L. (V.) braziliensis M2904 reference genome while only 26,853 variants separated both L. (V.) peruviana genomes. Analysis in coding sequences detected 26,750 SNPs and 1,513 indels shared by both L. (V.) peruviana isolates against L. (V.) braziliensis M2904 and revealed two L. (V.) braziliensis pseudogenes that are likely to have coding potential in L. (V.) peruviana. Chromosomal read density and allele frequency profiling showed a heterogeneous pattern of aneuploidy with an overall disomic tendency in both L. (V.) peruviana isolates, in contrast with a trisomic pattern in the L. (V.) braziliensis M2904 reference. Read depth analysis allowed us to detect more than 368 gene expansions and 14 expanded gene arrays in L. (V.) peruviana, and the likely absence of expanded amastin gene arrays. CONCLUSIONS The greater numbers of interspecific SNP/indel differences between L. (V.) peruviana and L. (V.) braziliensis and the presence of different gene and chromosome copy number variations support the classification of both organisms as closely related but distinct species. The extensive nucleotide polymorphisms and differences in gene and chromosome copy numbers in L. (V.) peruviana suggests the possibility that these may contribute to some of the unique features of its biology, including a lower pathology and lack of mucosal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo O Valdivia
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. .,Department of Parasitology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
| | - João L Reis-Cunha
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Gabriela F Rodrigues-Luiz
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | | | - Robert V Gerbasi
- Department of Parasitology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru.
| | - Deborah E Dobson
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
| | - Francine Pratlong
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, Departement de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Centre National de Reference des Leishmanioses, Montpellier, France.
| | - Patrick Bastien
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Montpellier, Departement de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Centre National de Reference des Leishmanioses, Montpellier, France.
| | - Andrés G Lescano
- Department of Parasitology, U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No. 6, Lima, Peru. .,Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, School of Public Health and Management, Lima, Peru.
| | - Stephen M Beverley
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, USA.
| | - Daniella C Bartholomeu
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
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25
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Reis-Cunha JL, Rodrigues-Luiz GF, Valdivia HO, Baptista RP, Mendes TAO, de Morais GL, Guedes R, Macedo AM, Bern C, Gilman RH, Lopez CT, Andersson B, Vasconcelos AT, Bartholomeu DC. Chromosomal copy number variation reveals differential levels of genomic plasticity in distinct Trypanosoma cruzi strains. BMC Genomics 2015; 16:499. [PMID: 26141959 PMCID: PMC4491234 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-015-1680-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 06/01/2015] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, is currently divided into six discrete typing units (DTUs), named TcI-TcVI. CL Brener, the reference strain of the T. cruzi genome project, is a hybrid with a genome assembled into 41 putative chromosomes. Gene copy number variation (CNV) is well documented as an important mechanism to enhance gene expression and variability in T. cruzi. Chromosomal CNV (CCNV) is another level of gene CNV in which whole blocks of genes are expanded simultaneously. Although the T. cruzi karyotype is not well defined, several studies have demonstrated a significant variation in the size and content of chromosomes between different T. cruzi strains. Despite these studies, the extent of diversity in CCNV among T. cruzi strains based on a read depth coverage analysis has not been determined. RESULTS We identify the CCNV in T. cruzi strains from the TcI, TcII and TcIII DTUs, by analyzing the depth coverage of short reads from these strains using the 41 CL Brener chromosomes as reference. This study led to the identification of a broader extent of CCNV in T. cruzi than was previously speculated. The TcI DTU strains have very few aneuploidies, while the strains from TcII and TcIII DTUs present a high degree of chromosomal expansions. Chromosome 31, which is the only chromosome that is supernumerary in all six T. cruzi samples evaluated in this study, is enriched with genes related to glycosylation pathways, highlighting the importance of glycosylation to parasite survival. CONCLUSIONS Increased gene copy number due to chromosome amplification may contribute to alterations in gene expression, which represents a strategy that may be crucial for parasites that mainly depend on post-transcriptional mechanisms to control gene expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Luís Reis-Cunha
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Gabriela F Rodrigues-Luiz
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Hugo O Valdivia
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Rodrigo P Baptista
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Tiago A O Mendes
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | | | - Rafael Guedes
- Laboratório Nacional de Computação Científica, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Andrea M Macedo
- Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
| | - Caryn Bern
- University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
| | - Robert H Gilman
- Universidad Cayetano Heredia, Lima, MD, Peru.
- Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
| | - Carlos Talavera Lopez
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | - Björn Andersson
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Science for Life Laboratory, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
| | | | - Daniella C Bartholomeu
- Laboratório de Imunologia e Genômica de Parasitos, Departamento deParasitologia, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
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26
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Ferreira KAM, Fajardo EF, Baptista RP, Macedo AM, Lages-Silva E, Ramírez LE, Pedrosa AL. Species-specific markers for the differential diagnosis of Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli and polymorphisms detection in Trypanosoma rangeli. Parasitol Res 2014; 113:2199-207. [PMID: 24728520 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-014-3872-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2013] [Accepted: 03/24/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Trypanosoma cruzi and Trypanosoma rangeli are kinetoplastid parasites which are able to infect humans in Central and South America. Misdiagnosis between these trypanosomes can be avoided by targeting barcoding sequences or genes of each organism. This work aims to analyze the feasibility of using species-specific markers for identification of intraspecific polymorphisms and as target for diagnostic methods by PCR. Accordingly, primers which are able to specifically detect T. cruzi or T. rangeli genomic DNA were characterized. The use of intergenic regions, generally divergent in the trypanosomatids, and the serine carboxypeptidase gene were successful. Using T. rangeli genomic sequences for the identification of group-specific polymorphisms and a polymorphic AT(n) dinucleotide repeat permitted the classification of the strains into two groups, which are entirely coincident with T. rangeli main lineages, KP1 (+) and KP1 (-), previously determined by kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) characterization. The sequences analyzed totalize 622 bp (382 bp represent a hypothetical protein sequence, and 240 bp represent an anonymous sequence), and of these, 581 (93.3%) are conserved sites and 41 bp (6.7%) are polymorphic, with 9 transitions (21.9%), 2 transversions (4.9%), and 30 (73.2%) insertion/deletion events. Taken together, the species-specific markers analyzed may be useful for the development of new strategies for the accurate diagnosis of infections. Furthermore, the identification of T. rangeli polymorphisms has a direct impact in the understanding of the population structure of this parasite.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keila Adriana Magalhães Ferreira
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas e Naturais, Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro, Avenida Frei Paulino, 30, Bairro Abadia, Uberaba, Minas Gerais, 38025-180, Brazil
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27
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Martinho JMG, Santos AM, Fedorov A, Baptista RP, Taipa MA, Cabral JMS. Fluorescence of the single tryptophan of cutinase: temperature and pH effect on protein conformation and dynamics. Photochem Photobiol 2003; 78:15-22. [PMID: 12929743 DOI: 10.1562/0031-8655(2003)078<0015:fotsto>2.0.co;2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi is an enzyme with a single L-tryptophan (Trp) involved in a hydrogen bond with an alanine (Ala) residue and located close to a cystine formed by a disulfide bridge between two cysteine (Cys) residues. The Cys strongly quenches the fluorescence of Trp by both static and dynamic quenching mechanisms. The Trp fluorescence intensity increases by about fourfold on protein melting because of the disruption of the Ala-Trp hydrogen bond that releases the Trp from the vicinity of the cystine residue. The Trp forms charge-transfer complexes with the disulfide bridge, which is disrupted by UV light irradiation of the protein. This results in a 10-fold increase of the Trp fluorescence quantum yield because of the suppression of the static quenching by the cystine residue. The Trp fluorescence anisotropy decays are similar to those in other proteins and were interpreted in terms of the wobbling-in-cone model. The long relaxation time is attributed to the Brownian rotational correlation time of the protein as a whole below the protein-melting temperature and to protein-backbone dynamics above it. The short relaxation time is related to the local motion of the Trp, whose mobility increases on protein denaturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- J M G Martinho
- Centro de Química-Física Molecular, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal.
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28
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Abstract
Cutinase in aqueous solution at pH 4.5 deactivates following a parallel pathway. At 53 degrees C, 88% of the cutinase molecules are in the unfolded conformation, which can aggregate with a reaction order of 3 if the protein concentration is high (>/=12 microM). The aggregates show a sixfold increase in size as determined by dynamic light scattering. This aggregation process is the first phase observed during a deactivation experiment; however, after significant cutinase depletion and maturation of the aggregates, a first-order step starts to dominate and a second phase independent of the protein concentration is observed. Kinetic partitioning between aggregation and first-order irreversible changes of the unfolded conformation can occur during enzyme deactivation when the equilibrium between the native and the unfolded conformation is shifted and kept toward the unfolded conformation.
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Affiliation(s)
- R P Baptista
- Centro de Engenharia Biológica e Química, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, Lisboa, Portugal
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29
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Baptista RP, Santos AM, Fedorov A, Martinho JMG, Pichot C, Elaïssari A, Cabral JMS, Taipa MA. Activity, conformation and dynamics of cutinase adsorbed on poly(methyl methacrylate) latex particles. J Biotechnol 2003; 102:241-9. [PMID: 12730007 DOI: 10.1016/s0168-1656(03)00033-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The adsorption of a recombinant cutinase from Fusarium solani pisi onto the surface of 100 nm diameter poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) latex particles was evaluated. Adsorption of cutinase is a fast process since more than 70% of protein molecules are adsorbed onto PMMA at time zero of experiment, irrespective of the tested conditions. A Langmuir-type model fitted both protein and enzyme activity isotherms at 25 degrees C. Gamma(max) increased from 1.1 to 1.7 mg m(-2) and U(max) increased from 365 to 982 U m(-2) as the pH was raised from 4.5 to 9.2, respectively. A decrease (up to 50%) in specific activity retention was observed at acidic pH values (pH 4.5 and 5.2) while almost no inactivation (eta(act) congruent with 87-94%) was detected upon adsorption at pH 7.0 and 9.2. Concomitantly, far-UV circular dichroism (CD) spectra evidenced a reduction in the alpha-helical content of adsorbed protein at acidic pH values while at neutral and alkaline pH the secondary structure of adsorbed cutinase was similar to that of native protein. Fluorescence anisotropy decays showed the release of some constraints to the local motion of the Trp69 upon protein adsorption at pH 8.0, probably due to the disruption of the tryptophan-alanine hydrogen bond when the tryptophan interacts with the PMMA surface. Structural data associated with activity measurements at pH 7.0 and 9.2 showed that cutinase adsorbs onto PMMA particles in an end-on orientation with active site exposed to solvent and full integrity of cutinase secondary structure. Hydrophobic interactions are likely the major contribution to the adsorption mechanism at neutral and alkaline pH values, and a higher amount of protein is adsorbed to PMMA particles with increasing temperature at pH 9.2. The maximum adsorption increased from 88 to 140 mg cutinase per g PMMA with temperature raising from 25 to 50 degrees C, at pH 9.2.
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Affiliation(s)
- R P Baptista
- Centro de Engenharia Biológica e Quïmica, Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
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30
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Abstract
The effect of trehalose (0.5 M) on the thermal stability of cutinase in the alkaline pH range was studied. The thermal unfolding induced by increasing temperature was analyzed in the absence and in the presence of trehalose according to a two-state model (which assumes that only the folded and unfolded states of cutinase were present). Trehalose delays the reversible unfolding. The midpoint temperature of the unfolding transition (Tm) increases by 4.0 degrees C and 2. 6 degrees C at pH 9.2 and 10.5, respectively, in the presence of trehalose. At pH 9.2 the thermal unfolding occurs at higher temperatures (Tm is 52.6 degrees C compared to 42.0 degrees C at pH 10.5) and a refolding yield of around 80% was obtained upon cooling. This pH value was chosen to study the irreversible inactivation (long-term stability) of cutinase. Temperatures in the transition range from folded to unfolded state were selected and the rate constants of irreversible inactivation determined. Inactivation followed first-order kinetics and trehalose reduced the observed rate constants of inactivation, pointing to a stabilizing effect on the irreversible inactivation step of thermal denaturation. However, if the contribution of reversible unfolding on the irreversible inactivation of cutinase was taken into account, i.e., considering the fraction of cutinase molecules in the reversible unfolded conformation, the intrinsic rate constants can be calculated. Based on the intrinsic rate constants it was concluded that trehalose does not delay the irreversible inactivation. This conclusion was further supported by comparing the activation energy of the irreversible inactivation in the absence and in the presence of trehalose. The apparent activation energy in the absence and in the presence of trehalose were 67 and 99 Kcal/mol, respectively. The activation energy calculated from intrinsic rate constants was higher in the absence (30 Kcal/mol) than in the presence of trehalose (16 Kcal/mol), showing that kinetics of the irreversible inactivation step increased in the presence of trehalose. In fact, trehalose stabilized only the reversible step of thermal denaturation of cutinase.
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Affiliation(s)
- R P Baptista
- Universidade do Algarve - U.C.T.A., Campus de Gambelas 8000 Faro, Portugal
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31
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Baptista RP, Fornes JA. A measuring bridge for studying the dielectric properties of highly conducting liquids in the frequency range 1 kHz-30 MHz. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2000. [DOI: 10.1088/0022-3735/18/2/016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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