Babesia gibsoni endemic to Wuhan, China: mitochondrial genome sequencing, annotation, and comparison with apicomplexan parasites

et al. 2020

Preprint

Abstract Background: Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease caused by protozoa of the genus Babesia , is widespread in subtropical and tropical countries. Mitochondria are essential organelles that are responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling. Mitochondrial genomes could provide new insight to help elucidate and investigate the biological features, genetic evolution and classification of the protozoa. Nevertheless, there are limited data on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp. in China. Methods: Herein, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of six ovine Babesia isolates; analyzed the genome size, gene content, genome structure and cytochrome b ( cob ) amino acid sequences; and performed comparative mitochondrial genomics and phylogenomic analyses among apicomplexan parasites. Results: The mitochondrial genomes range from 5767 to 5946 bp in length with a linear form and contain three protein-encoding genes, cytochrome c oxidase I ( cox1 ), cytochrome c oxidase III ( cox3 ) and cob , six large subunit rRNA genes (LSU), and two terminal inverted repeats (TIR) on both ends. The cob gene sequence analysis indicated the binding site of anti- Babesia drugs that targeted the cytochrome bc 1 complex. Babesia microti and Babesia rodhaini have a dual flip-flop inversion of 184-1082 bp, whereas other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. have one pair of TIRs, 25-1563 bp. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the six ovine Babesia isolates were divided into two clades, Babesia sp. and Babesia motasi . B. motasi isolates were further separated into two small clades ( B. motasi Hebei/Ningxian and B. motasi Tianzhu/Lintan). Conclusions: The data provided new insights into the taxonomic relationships and drug targets of apicomplexan parasites.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the phylogenetic relationships and drug targets of Babesia isolates infective to small ruminants from the mitochondrial genomes

et al. 2020

Preprint

“…However, one pair of TIRs was found in the mitochondrial genomes of other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp., ranging from 25 to 1563 bp in length [ 26 – 28 , 30 , 32 ]. These findings indicated that the number and size of TIRs are one of the main causes of different mitochondrial genome sizes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies of mitochondrial genomes could provide new insights into the biological features, genetic evolution and classification of the causative agents, as well as providing data for designing anti- Babesia compounds. To date, sequencing of the mitochondrial genomes has been performed for B. bigemina , Babesia bovis , B. caballi , B. canis , B. conradae , B. duncani , B. gibsoni , B. microti , B. orientalis , B. rodhaini , B. rossi , B. vogeli , Theileria equi and T. orientalis [ 26 – 31 ]. However, there are limited data on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the phylogenetic relationships and drug targets of Babesia isolates infective to small ruminants from the mitochondrial genomes

et al. 2020

Parasites Vectors

Background Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease caused by protozoans of the genus Babesia , is widespread in subtropical and tropical countries. Mitochondria are essential organelles that are responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling. Mitochondrial genomes could provide new insights to help elucidate and investigate the biological features, genetic evolution and classification of the protozoans. Nevertheless, there are limited data on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp. in China. Methods Herein, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of six ovine Babesia isolates; analyzed the genome size, gene content, genome structure and cytochrome b ( cytb ) amino acid sequences and performed comparative mitochondrial genomics and phylogenomic analyses among apicomplexan parasites. Results The mitochondrial genomes range from 5767 to 5946 bp in length with a linear form and contain three protein-encoding genes, cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 ( cox 1), cytochrome c oxidase subunit 3 ( cox 3) and cytb , six large subunit rRNA genes ( LSU ) and two terminal inverted repeats (TIR) on both ends. The cytb gene sequence analysis indicated the binding site of anti- Babesia drugs that targeted the cytochrome bc 1 complex. Babesia microti and Babesia rodhaini have a dual flip-flop inversion of 184–1082 bp, whereas other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. have one pair of TIRs, 25–1563 bp. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that the six ovine Babesia isolates were divided into two clades, Babesia sp. and Babesia motasi . Babesia motasi isolates were further separated into two small clades ( B. motasi Hebei/Ningxian and B. motasi Tianzhu/Lintan). Conclusions The data provided new insights into the taxonomic relationships and drug targets of apicomplexan parasites.

“…Mitochondrion is an essential organelle that is responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling [16]. So [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Mitochondrial genomes could provide a new insight to understand and explore the population genetics, biological features of the pathogens, and evolutionary relationships.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Insights into the phylogenetic relationship and drug targets of Babesia infective to small ruminants from its mitochondrial genomes

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: Babesiosis, a tick-borne disease caused by protozoans of the genus Babesia, is widespread in subtropical and tropical countries. Mitochondrion is an essential organelle that is responsible for energy transduction and metabolism, calcium homeostasis and cell signaling. Mitochondrial genomes could provide a new insight to understand and explore the population genetics, biological features of the pathogens, and evolutionary relationships. However, there is limied information on the mitochondrial genomes of ovine Babesia spp. in China.Methods: Herein, we sequenced, assembled and annotated the mitochondrial genomes of six ovine Babesia isolates, and analyzed genome size, gene content, genome structure and cytochrome b (cob) amino acid sequences, and performed comparative mitochondrial genomics and phylogenomic analyses among apicomplexan parasites.Results: The mitochondrial genomes range from 5767 to 5946 bp in length with a linear form and contain three protein-encoding genes, cytochrome c oxidase I (cox1), cytochrome c oxidase III (cox3) and cob, six large subunit rRNA gene (LSU), and two terminal inverted repeats (TIR) on both ends. The cob sequence analysis indicated that the binding site of anti-Babesia drugs targeted on the cytochrome bc1 complex. Babesia microti and Babesia rodhaini have a dual flip-flop inversion of 184-1082 bp, whereas other Babesia spp. and Theileria spp. have one pair of TIR, 25-1563 bp. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that six ovine Babesia isolates were divided into two clades, Babesia sp. and Babesia motasi. B. motasi isolates were further separated into two subclades (B. motasi Lintan/Tianzhu and B. motasi Ningxian/Hebei).Conclusions: The data provided new insights into the population genetics, taxonomic relationships, molecular epidemiological studies and drug targets of apicomplexan parasites.