Comparative genomic analysis of three Leishmania species that cause diverse human disease.

• Leishmania parasites cause a broad spectrum of clinical disease. Here we report the sequencing of the genomes of two species of Leishmania: Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis. The comparison of these sequences with the published genome of Leishmania major reveals marked conservation of synteny and identifies only 200 genes with a differential distribution between the three species. L. braziliensis, contrary to Leishmania species examined so far, possesses components of a putative RNA-mediated interference pathway, telomere-associated transposable elements and spliced leader–associated SLACS retrotransposons. We show that pseudogene formation and gene loss are the principal forces shaping the different genomes. Genes that are differentially distributed between the species encode proteins implicated in host-pathogen interactions and parasite survival in the macrophage.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Biologi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Biological Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Amino Acid Sequence

Animals

Genome

Genomics

Humans

Leishmania/*genetics

Leishmania braziliensis/genetics

Leishmania infantum/genetics

Leishmania major/genetics

Leishmaniasis/*parasitology

Leishmaniasis; Cutaneous/parasitology

Leishmaniasis; Visceral/parasitology

Molecular Sequence Data

Biology

Biologi

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)