COMPARATIVE WOLBACHIA GENOME SEQUENCING

Yale University, New Haven CT

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

The objective of this grant is to sequence the genomes of three related Wolbachia strains. These sequences will be determined using a bottom up shotgun approach, assembled, annotated and released to the worldwide scientific community through a searchable internet interface. Three strains of Wolbachia have been selected for sequencing based on their phylogenetic and phenotypic diversity, as well as their presence in human parasitic nematodes and insect disease vectors. The sequencing of three genomes will facilitate a comparative genomic approach to understanding the genetic basis of traits shared by all strains (e.g. intracellular life style) as well as traits unique to each strain (e.g. obligate mutualism in nematodes, versus facultative parasitism in insects, as well as specific reproductive host phenotypes). The data generated from this project will form a framework for future studies which will seek to utilize these agents as targets for the control of human filarial disease, for the control of insect transmitted diseases such as dengue fever and African trypanosomiasis, and for understanding the basic biology underlying their unique interactions with the invertebrate hosts they infect.