Complete genome sequences from three genetically distinct strains reveal high intraspecies genetic diversity in the microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi.

ABSTRACT: Microsporidia from the Encephalitozoonidae are obligate intracellular parasites with highly conserved and compacted nuclear genomes: they have few introns, short intergenic regions, and almost identical gene complements and chromosome arrangements. Comparative genomics of Encephalitozoon and microsporidia in general have focused largely on the genomic diversity between different species, and we know very little about the levels of genetic diversity within species. Polymorphism studies with Encephalitozoon are so far restricted to a small number of genes, and a few genetically distinct strains have been identified; most notably, three genotypes (ECI, ECII, and ECIII) of the model species E. cuniculi have been identified based on variable repeats in the rRNA internal transcribed spacer (ITS)

SUBMITTER: Pombert JF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3623445 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature