Project description:Comparative genomic analysis of T. cruzi CLB vs Trypanosoma rangeli (strains SC, Choachí, C23, H14, R1625 and PIT10) and Trypanosoma conorhini
Project description:Antibody recognition of Trypanosoma cruzi conserved proteins was assessed by evaluating pools of patient IgG samples on microarrays of 400,000 peptides covering these proteins as 15-mers with an overlap of 13 amino acids.
Project description:Trypanosoma cruzi is a protozoan parasite and the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, an important public health problem in Latin America. T. cruzi is diploid, almost exclusively asexual, and displays an extraordinarily diverse population structure both genetically and phenotypically. Yet, to date the genotypic diversity of T. cruzi and its relationship, if any, to biological diversity have not been studied at the whole genome level. In this study, we used whole genome oligonucleotide tiling arrays to compare gene content in biologically disparate T. cruzi strains by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). We observed that T. cruzi strains display widespread and focal copy number variations (CNV) and a substantially greater level of diversity than can be adequately defined by the current genetic typing methods. As expected, CNV were particularly frequent in gene family-rich regions containing mucins and trans-sialidases but were also evident in core genes. Gene groups that showed little variation in copy numbers among the strains tested included those encoding protein kinases and ribosomal proteins, suggesting these loci were less permissive to CNV. Moreover, frequent variation in chromosome copy numbers were observed, and chromosome-specific CNV signatures were shared by genetically divergent T. cruzi strains, suggesting a greater degree of chromosome exchange than previously thought.
