Genome Sequence of Theileria parva, a Bovine Pathogen That Transforms Lymphocytes.

THEILERIA parva; GENOMES; NUCLEOTIDE sequence; PATHOGENIC microorganisms; LYMPHOCYTES; CHROMOSOMES; PLASTIDS

We report the genome sequence of Theileria parva, an apicomplexanpathogen causing economic losses to smallholder farmers in Africa. Theparasite chromosomes exhibit limited conservation of gene synteny withPlasmodium falciparum, and its plastid-like genome represents the firstexample where all apicoplast genes are encoded on one DMA strand. Wetentatively identify proteins that facilitate parasite segregationduring host cell cytokinesis and contribute to persistent infection oftransformed host cells. Several biosynthetic pathways are incomplete orabsent, suggesting substantial metabolic dependence on the host cell.One protein family that may generate parasite antigenic diversity is nottelomere-associated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)