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Plasmodium parasites of birds have the most AT-rich genes of eukaryotes

Videvall, Elin LU (2018) In Microbial Genomics
Abstract
The genomic architecture of organisms, including nucleotide composition, can be highly variable, even among closely-related species. To better understand the causes leading to structural variation in genomes, information on distinct and diverse genomic features is needed. Malaria parasites are known for encompassing a wide range of genomic GC-content and it has long been thought that Plasmodium falciparum, the virulent malaria parasite of humans, has the most AT-biased eukaryotic genome. Here, I perform comparative genomic analyses of the most AT-rich eukaryotes sequenced to date, and show that the avian malaria parasites Plasmodium gallinaceum, P. ashfordi, and P. relictum have the most extreme coding sequences in terms of AT-bias. Their... (More)
The genomic architecture of organisms, including nucleotide composition, can be highly variable, even among closely-related species. To better understand the causes leading to structural variation in genomes, information on distinct and diverse genomic features is needed. Malaria parasites are known for encompassing a wide range of genomic GC-content and it has long been thought that Plasmodium falciparum, the virulent malaria parasite of humans, has the most AT-biased eukaryotic genome. Here, I perform comparative genomic analyses of the most AT-rich eukaryotes sequenced to date, and show that the avian malaria parasites Plasmodium gallinaceum, P. ashfordi, and P. relictum have the most extreme coding sequences in terms of AT-bias. Their mean GC-content is 21.21, 21.22 and 21.60 %, respectively, which is considerably lower than the transcriptome of P. falciparum (23.79 %) and other eukaryotes. This information enables a better understanding of genome evolution and raises the question of how certain organisms are able to prosper despite severe compositional constraints. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
GC-content, genome evolution, AT-bias
in
Microbial Genomics
publisher
Microbiology Society
external identifiers
  • pmid:29360019
  • scopus:85056658519
ISSN
2057-5858
DOI
10.1099/mgen.0.000150
project
Malaria in birds
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
96be4559-5c1a-4353-bcef-ad5654e7f5a5
alternative location
http://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/mgen/10.1099/mgen.0.000150.v1
date added to LUP
2018-02-27 13:19:56
date last changed
2024-05-14 04:41:25
@article{96be4559-5c1a-4353-bcef-ad5654e7f5a5,
  abstract     = {{The genomic architecture of organisms, including nucleotide composition, can be highly variable, even among closely-related species. To better understand the causes leading to structural variation in genomes, information on distinct and diverse genomic features is needed. Malaria parasites are known for encompassing a wide range of genomic GC-content and it has long been thought that Plasmodium falciparum, the virulent malaria parasite of humans, has the most AT-biased eukaryotic genome. Here, I perform comparative genomic analyses of the most AT-rich eukaryotes sequenced to date, and show that the avian malaria parasites Plasmodium gallinaceum, P. ashfordi, and P. relictum have the most extreme coding sequences in terms of AT-bias. Their mean GC-content is 21.21, 21.22 and 21.60 %, respectively, which is considerably lower than the transcriptome of P. falciparum (23.79 %) and other eukaryotes. This information enables a better understanding of genome evolution and raises the question of how certain organisms are able to prosper despite severe compositional constraints.}},
  author       = {{Videvall, Elin}},
  issn         = {{2057-5858}},
  keywords     = {{GC-content; genome evolution; AT-bias}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{Microbiology Society}},
  series       = {{Microbial Genomics}},
  title        = {{Plasmodium parasites of birds have the most AT-rich genes of eukaryotes}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1099/mgen.0.000150}},
  doi          = {{10.1099/mgen.0.000150}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}