A divide-and-conquer approach to uncover the genomic structure of the highly virulent RA strain of Trypanosoma cruzi.

ABSTRACT: Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, remains a major health and socioeconomic concern in Latin America. Despite its remarkable genetic diversity, high-quality genome assemblies are still limited, and even widely used laboratory strains remain uncharacterized. Here, we present a high-quality genome assembly of the highly virulent RA strain (TcVI), generated using PacBio RSII long-read sequencing. Through the integration of exhaustively curated protein databases and custom-built bioinformatic tools, we improved gene annotation and achieved a comprehensive characterization of the genome. Within the RA genome we identified 17,037 genes conserved across the trypanosomatid clade and 6897 genes and pseudogenes belonging to T. cruzi-specific, rapidly evolving multigene familie

SUBMITTER: Balouz V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12618653 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature