Exploring the environmental diversity of kinetoplastid flagellates in the high-throughput DNA sequencing era

Abstract

The class Kinetoplastea encompasses both free-living and parasitic species from a wide range of hosts. Several representatives of this group are responsible for severe human diseases and for economic losses in agriculture and livestock. While this group encompasses over 30 genera, most of the available information has been derived from the vertebrate pathogenic genera Leishmaniaand Trypanosoma. Recent studies of the previously neglected groups of Kinetoplastea indicated that the actual diversity is much higher than previously thought. This article discusses the known segment of kinetoplastid diversity and how gene-directed Sanger sequencing and next-generation sequencing methods can help to deepen our knowledge of these interesting protists.

Comparative Metabolism of Free‐living Bodo saltans and Parasitic Trypanosomatids

“…The structure of kDNA in bodonids is much more variable than in trypanosomatids, and is usually composed of free supercoiled circular DNAs rather than of catenated relaxed circles (d'Avila‐Levy et al. ; Lukeš et al. ).…”

The unconventional kinetoplastid kinetochore: from discovery toward functional understanding

“…Kinetoplastids are a widespread group of unicellular eukaryotes found in diverse environmental conditions, including hydrothermal vents [205–208]. They are defined by the presence of kinetoplast, a large structure in the mitochondrion that contains the mitochondrial DNA [116].…”

First Draft Genome of the Trypanosomatid Herpetomonas muscarum ingenoplastis through MinION Oxford Nanopore Technology and Illumina Sequencing

“…These parasites affect about 22 million people worldwide and alternate their life cycle between an insect vector and a mammalian host [3]. Therefore, the research is concentrated in these disease-inflicting parasites, however, the largest biodiversity of this family is among trypanosomatids that usually infects insects as the single host [4][5][6]. Herpetomonas muscarum ingenoplastis was isolated and described by Rogers and Wallace in 1971 [7].…”