Comparative genomics of Trypanosomatidae

• Grant number: 13/14622-3
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: João Marcelo Pereira Alves
• Grantee: João Marcelo Pereira Alves
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Erney Felicio Plessmann de Camargo ; Marta Maria Geraldes Teixeira
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/01284-6 - Genomic and evolutionary analyses of Endotrypanum schaudinni, BP.MS; 13/23387-8 - Comparative genomics of Trypanosomatidae, BP.JP

Abstract

Recent sequencing and analysis of eukaryotic genomes and transcriptomes has led to the discovery of several biological phenomena, in addition to answering old pending questions on the evolution, phylogeny, and cellular and molecular biology of these organisms. However, sampling of organisms analyzed so far has been very biased and uneven, given the emphasis given in previous research to organisms of economical and, mainly, medical importance, thus hampering comparative analyses necessary to determine the mode(s) of evolution of many characteristics of interest, e.g. the emergence of parasitism and other ways of life. This project aims at the use of comparative genomic and transcriptomic approaches for the study of genome structure and evolution from parasitic organisms from the Trypanosomatidae family (Kinetoplastida, Euglenozoa) and some of their closely related non-parasitic Kinetoplastida relatives, in order to answer several basic biology questions about these protozoans, including but not limited to: intron distribution in the Kinetoplastida; gene content evolution and its correlation with life style (i.e. parasitic, commensal, or free living); selective pressure among gene classes; metabolic potential reconstruction and its correlation with other biological characteristics; correlation of host and endosymbiont gene complements. Better understanding of such questions will greatly contribute to the knowledge of basic mechanisms of organismal and genomic evolution in general, and parasitism in particular, helping to elucidate what makes a parasite and how best to fight it. (AU)

Scientific publications

(14)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

SILVA, FLAVIA M.; KOSTYGOV, ALEXEI Y.; SPODAREVA, VIKTORIA V.; BUTENKO, ANZHELIKA; TOSSOU, REGIS; LUKES, JULIUS; YURCHENKO, VYACHESLAV; ALVES, JOAO M. P.. The reduced genome of Candidatus Kinetoplastibacterium sorsogonicusi, the endosymbiont of Kentomonas sorsogonicus (Trypanosomatidae): loss of the haem-synthesis pathway. Parasitology, v. 145, n. 10, SI, p. 1287-1293, SEP 2018. (13/14622-3)

BRADWELL, KATIE R.; KOPARDE, VISHAL N.; MATVEYEV, ANDREY V.; SERRANO, MYRNA G.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; PARIKH, HARDIK; HUANG, BERNICE; LEE, VLADIMIR; ESPINOSA-ALVAREZ, ONEIDA; ORTIZ, PAOLA A.; et al. Genomic comparison of Trypanosoma conorhini and Trypanosoma rangeli to Trypanosoma cruzi strains of high and low virulence. BMC Genomics, v. 19, OCT 24 2018. (13/14622-3)

SAO PEDRO, SIMONE LIMA; PEREIRA ALVES, JOAO MARCELO; BARRETO, ANDRE SILVA; DE SOUZA LIMA, ANDRE OLIVEIRA. Evidence of Positive Selection of Aquaporins Genes from Pontoporia blainvillei during the Evolutionary Process of Cetaceans. PLoS One, v. 10, n. 7, JUL 30 2015. (13/14622-3)

LORENZ, CAMILA; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; FOSTER, PETER G.; SUESDEK, LINCOLN; SALLUM, MARIA ANICE M.. Phylogeny and temporal diversification of mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with an emphasis on the Neotropical fauna. Systematic Entomology, v. 46, n. 4, p. 798-811, OCT 2021. (15/12784-1, 13/05521-9, 13/14622-3)

DE AZEVEDO-MARTINS, ALLAN C.; OCANA, KARY; DE SOUZA, WANDERLEY; DE VASCONCELOS, ANA TEREZA RIBEIRO; TEIXEIRA, MARTA M. G.; CAMARGO, ERNEY P.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; MOTTA, MARIA CRISTINA M.. he Importance of Glycerophospholipid Production to the Mutualist Symbiosis of Trypanosomatid. PATHOGENS, v. 11, n. 1, JAN 2022. (13/14622-3)

SILVA, FLAVIA M.; KOSTYGOV, ALEXEI Y.; SPODAREVA, VIKTORIA V.; BUTENKO, ANZHELIKA; TOSSOU, REGIS; LUKES, JULIUS; YURCHENKO, VYACHESLAV; ALVES, JOAO M. P.. The reduced genome of Candidatus Kinetoplastibacterium sorsogonicusi, the endosymbiont of Kentomonas sorsogonicus (Trypanosomatidae): loss of the haem-synthesis pathway. Parasitology, v. 145, n. 10, p. 7-pg., 2018-09-01. (13/14622-3)

MATVEYEV, ANDREY V.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; SERRANO, MYRNA G.; LEE, VLADIMIR; LARA, ANA M.; BARTON, WILLIAM A.; COSTA-MARTINS, ANDRE G.; BEVERLEY, STEPHEN M.; CAMARGO, ERNEY P.; TEIXEIRA, MARTA M. G.; et al. The Evolutionary Loss of RNAi Key Determinants in Kinetoplastids as a Multiple Sporadic Phenomenon. Journal of Molecular Evolution, v. 84, n. 2-3, p. 104-115, MAR 2017. (13/14622-3)

PETERSEN, VIVIAN; SANTANA, MICAEL; ALVES, J. MARCELO P.; SUESDEK, LINCOLN. enetic and morphological polymorphisms of Aedes scapularis (Diptera: Culicidae), vector of filariae and arboviruse. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION, v. 97, JAN 2022. (13/14622-3)

SKALICKY, TOMAS; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; MORAIS, ANDERSON C.; REZNAROVA, JANA; BUTENKO, ANZHELIKA; LUKES, JULIUS; SERRANO, MYRNA G.; BUCK, GREGORY A.; TEIXEIRA, MARTA M. G.; CAMARGO, ERNEY P.; et al. Endosymbiont Capture, a Repeated Process of Endosymbiont Transfer with Replacement in Trypanosomatids Angomonas spp.. PATHOGENS, v. 10, n. 6, JUN 2021. (16/07487-0, 13/14622-3)

GUIMARAES, LILIAN O.; WUNDERLICH, GERHARD; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; BUENO, MARINA G.; ROEHE, FABIO; CATAO-DIAS, JOSE L.; NEVES, AMANDA; MALAFRONTE, ROSELY S.; CURADO, IZILDA; DOMINGUES, WILSON; et al. Merozoite surface protein-1 genetic diversity in Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium brasilianum from Brazil. BMC INFECTIOUS DISEASES, v. 15, NOV 16 2015. (13/14622-3)

GABRIEL, HELOISA B.; DE AZEVEDO, MAURO F.; PALMISANO, GIUSEPPE; WUNDERLICH, GERHARD; KIMURA, EMILIA A.; KATZIN, ALEJANDRO M.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.. Single-target high-throughput transcription analyses reveal high levels of alternative splicing present in the FPPS/GGPPS from Plasmodium falciparum. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 5, DEC 21 2015. (13/14622-3, 10/19518-1, 14/23417-7)

DE AZEVEDO-MARTINS, ALLAN C.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; DE MELLO, FERNANDO GARCIA; VASCONCELOS, ANA TEREZA R.; DE SOUZA, WANDERLEY; EINICKER-LAMAS, MARCELO; MOTTA, MARIA CRISTINA M.. Biochemical and phylogenetic analyses of phosphatidylinositol production in Angomonas deanei, an endosymbiont-harboring trypanosomatid. PARASITES & VECTORS, v. 8, APR 24 2015. (13/14622-3)

CABALLERO, ZULEIMA C.; COSTA-MARTINS, ANDRE G.; FERREIRA, ROBSON C.; ALVES, JOAO M. P.; SERRANO, MYRNA G.; CAMARGO, ERNEY P.; BUCK, GREGORY A.; MINOPRIO, PAOLA; TEIXEIRA, MARTA M. G.. Phylogenetic and syntenic data support a single horizontal transference to a Trypanosoma ancestor of a prokaryotic proline racemase implicated in parasite evasion from host defences. PARASITES & VECTORS, v. 8, APR 12 2015. (13/14622-3)

ALVES, JOAO M. P.; DE OLIVEIRA, ANDRE L.; SANDBERG, TATIANA O. M.; MORENO-GALLEGO, JAIME L.; DE TOLEDO, MARCELO A. F.; DE MOURA, ELISABETH M. M.; OLIVEIRA, LILANE S.; DURHAM, ALAN M.; MEHNERT, DOLORES U.; ZANOTTO, PAOLO M. DE A.; et al. GenSeed-HMM: A Tool for Progressive Assembly Using Profile HMMs as Seeds and its Application in Alpavirinae Viral Discovery from Metagenomic Data. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 7, MAR 4 2016. (10/04609-1, 13/14622-3)