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

Kirkness, Ewen F ; Haas, Brian J ; Sun, Weilin ; Braig, Henk R ; Perotti, M Alejandra ; Clark, John M ; Lee, Si Hyeock ; Robertson, Hugh M ; Kennedy, Ryan C and Elhaik, Eran LU orcid , et al. (2010) In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 107(27). p.12168-12173
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... (More)

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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publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
keywords
Animals, Enterobacteriaceae/genetics, Genes, Bacterial/genetics, Genes, Insect/genetics, Genome, Bacterial/genetics, Genome, Insect/genetics, Genomics/methods, Humans, Lice Infestations/parasitology, Molecular Sequence Data, Pediculus/genetics, Sequence Analysis, DNA, Symbiosis
in
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
volume
107
issue
27
pages
12168 - 12173
publisher
National Academy of Sciences
external identifiers
  • pmid:20566863
  • scopus:77955459130
ISSN
1091-6490
DOI
10.1073/pnas.1003379107
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
413afe2e-a0ef-4a1b-ae12-593606090eac
date added to LUP
2019-11-10 16:48:49
date last changed
2024-06-27 08:28:46
@article{413afe2e-a0ef-4a1b-ae12-593606090eac,
  abstract     = {{<p>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.</p>}},
  author       = {{Kirkness, Ewen F and Haas, Brian J and Sun, Weilin and Braig, Henk R and Perotti, M Alejandra and Clark, John M and Lee, Si Hyeock and Robertson, Hugh M and Kennedy, Ryan C and Elhaik, Eran and Gerlach, Daniel and Kriventseva, Evgenia V and Elsik, Christine G and Graur, Dan and Hill, Catherine A and Veenstra, Jan A and Walenz, Brian and Tubío, José Manuel C and Ribeiro, José M C and Rozas, Julio and Johnston, J Spencer and Reese, Justin T and Popadic, Aleksandar and Tojo, Marta and Raoult, Didier and Reed, David L and Tomoyasu, Yoshinori and Kraus, Emily and Krause, Emily and Mittapalli, Omprakash and Margam, Venu M and Li, Hong-Mei and Meyer, Jason M and Johnson, Reed M and Romero-Severson, Jeanne and Vanzee, Janice Pagel and Alvarez-Ponce, David and Vieira, Filipe G and Aguadé, Montserrat and Guirao-Rico, Sara and Anzola, Juan M and Yoon, Kyong S and Strycharz, Joseph P and Unger, Maria F and Christley, Scott and Lobo, Neil F and Seufferheld, Manfredo J and Wang, Naikuan and Dasch, Gregory A and Struchiner, Claudio J and Madey, Greg and Hannick, Linda I and Bidwell, Shelby and Joardar, Vinita and Caler, Elisabet and Shao, Renfu and Barker, Stephen C and Cameron, Stephen and Bruggner, Robert V and Regier, Allison and Johnson, Justin and Viswanathan, Lakshmi and Utterback, Terry R and Sutton, Granger G and Lawson, Daniel and Waterhouse, Robert M and Venter, J Craig and Strausberg, Robert L and Berenbaum, May R and Collins, Frank H and Zdobnov, Evgeny M and Pittendrigh, Barry R}},
  issn         = {{1091-6490}},
  keywords     = {{Animals; Enterobacteriaceae/genetics; Genes, Bacterial/genetics; Genes, Insect/genetics; Genome, Bacterial/genetics; Genome, Insect/genetics; Genomics/methods; Humans; Lice Infestations/parasitology; Molecular Sequence Data; Pediculus/genetics; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Symbiosis}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  number       = {{27}},
  pages        = {{12168--12173}},
  publisher    = {{National Academy of Sciences}},
  series       = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}},
  title        = {{Genome sequences of the human body louse and its primary endosymbiont provide insights into the permanent parasitic lifestyle}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1003379107}},
  doi          = {{10.1073/pnas.1003379107}},
  volume       = {{107}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}