Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2010 Jul 6;107(27):12168-73.

doi: 10.1073/pnas.1003379107. Epub 2010 Jun 21.

Brian J Haas, Weilin Sun, Henk R Braig, M Alejandra Perotti, John M Clark, Si Hyeock Lee, Hugh M Robertson, Ryan C Kennedy, Eran Elhaik, Daniel Gerlach, Evgenia V Kriventseva, Christine G Elsik, Dan Graur, Catherine A Hill, Jan A Veenstra, Brian Walenz, José Manuel C Tubío, José M C Ribeiro, Julio Rozas, J Spencer Johnston, Justin T Reese, Aleksandar Popadic, Marta Tojo, Didier Raoult, David L Reed, Yoshinori Tomoyasu, Emily Kraus, Omprakash Mittapalli, Venu M Margam, Hong-Mei Li, Jason M Meyer, Reed M Johnson, Jeanne Romero-Severson, Janice Pagel Vanzee, David Alvarez-Ponce, Filipe G Vieira, Montserrat Aguadé, Sara Guirao-Rico, Juan M Anzola, Kyong S Yoon, Joseph P Strycharz, Maria F Unger, Scott Christley, Neil F Lobo, Manfredo J Seufferheld, Naikuan Wang, Gregory A Dasch, Claudio J Struchiner, Greg Madey, Linda I Hannick, Shelby Bidwell, Vinita Joardar, Elisabet Caler, Renfu Shao, Stephen C Barker, Stephen Cameron, Robert V Bruggner, Allison Regier, Justin Johnson, Lakshmi Viswanathan, Terry R Utterback, Granger G Sutton, Daniel Lawson, Robert M Waterhouse, J Craig Venter, Robert L Strausberg, May R Berenbaum, Frank H Collins, Evgeny M Zdobnov, Barry R Pittendrigh

Affiliations

Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle

Ewen F Kirkness et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010.

Erratum in

Abstract

As an obligatory parasite of humans, the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) is an important vector for human diseases, including epidemic typhus, relapsing fever, and trench fever. Here, we present genome sequences of the body louse and its primary bacterial endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola. The body louse has the smallest known insect genome, spanning 108 Mb. Despite its status as an obligate parasite, it retains a remarkably complete basal insect repertoire of 10,773 protein-coding genes and 57 microRNAs. Representing hemimetabolous insects, the genome of the body louse thus provides a reference for studies of holometabolous insects. Compared with other insect genomes, the body louse genome contains significantly fewer genes associated with environmental sensing and response, including odorant and gustatory receptors and detoxifying enzymes. The unique architecture of the 18 minicircular mitochondrial chromosomes of the body louse may be linked to the loss of the gene encoding the mitochondrial single-stranded DNA binding protein. The genome of the obligatory louse endosymbiont Candidatus Riesia pediculicola encodes less than 600 genes on a short, linear chromosome and a circular plasmid. The plasmid harbors a unique arrangement of genes required for the synthesis of pantothenate, an essential vitamin deficient in the louse diet. The human body louse, its primary endosymbiont, and the bacterial pathogens that it vectors all possess genomes reduced in size compared with their free-living close relatives. Thus, the body louse genome project offers unique information and tools to use in advancing understanding of coevolution among vectors, symbionts, and pathogens.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

The Pediculus humanus humanus (P. hum) genome reveals a basal insect gene repertoire. The encoded P. hum proteome is compared with sequenced representatives of the orders Diptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera and outgroup species beyond Insecta. D. mel, Drosophila melanogaster; T. cas, Tribolium castaneum; N. vit, Nasonia vitripennis; D. pul, Daphnia pulex; H. sap, Homo sapiens. (A) The Maximum-Likelihood phylogenetic tree was reconstructed using the superalignment of protein sequences of universal single-copy orthologs. The obtained tree confirms the basal position of Hemimetabola compared with Holometabola within Insecta. The branch lengths are proportional to the accumulated number of substitutions, suggesting an average rate of molecular evolution in lice that is comparable with that in Hymenoptera and Coleoptera. (B) The Venn diagram shows the numbers of orthologous groups of genes shared among the four insects (a lower estimate of the ancestral number of genes). It depicts the phylogenetic distribution of orthologs, highlighting the completeness of the gene repertoire encoded in the body louse genome. Pink, P. hum; yellow, N. vit; green, T. cas; blue, D. mel. (C) The pie chart partitions the largest fraction of core body louse proteins with orthologs in three holometabolous insect orders and the outgroup species beyond Insecta with respect to single- (1:1:1:1) and multiple- (N:N:N:N) copy orthologs. Of 5,693 groups of single- and multiple-copy orthologs common across Insecta, 94% are shared across Bilateria as single-copy (72%) or multiple-copy (22%) orthologs, and only 6% are insect-specific orthologous groups (4% as single copies and 2% as multiple copies).

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