Journal
NATURE
Volume 496, Issue 7443, Pages 57-63Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/nature12031
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Funding
- BBSRC [BBG0038151]
- SynTax joint UK Research Council
- European Research Council
- Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR MOP) [84556]
- FIRCA-NIH [TW008588]
- Universidad de la Republica, CSIC [CSIC 625]
- Wellcome Trust through Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute [098051]
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) [BR2045/4-1]
- Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
- BBSRC [BB/G003815/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BB/G003815/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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Tapeworms (Cestoda) cause neglected diseases that can be fatal and are difficult to treat, owing to inefficient drugs. Here we present an analysis of tapeworm genome sequences using the human-infective species Echinococcus multilocularis, E. granulosus, Taenia solium and the laboratory model Hymenolepis microstoma as examples. The 115- to 141-megabase genomes offer insights into the evolution of parasitism. Synteny is maintained with distantly related blood flukes but we find extreme losses of genes and pathways that are ubiquitous in other animals, including 34 homeobox families and several determinants of stem cell fate. Tapeworms have specialized detoxification pathways, metabolism that is finely tuned to rely on nutrients scavenged from their hosts, and species-specific expansions of non-canonical heat shock proteins and families of known antigens. We identify new potential drug targets, including some on which existing pharmaceuticals may act. The genomes provide a rich resource to underpin the development of urgently needed treatments and control.
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