New insights into the genome and transmission of the microsporidian pathogen Nosema muscidifuracis

Xiao, Xiong; Geden, Christopher J.; Bergstralh, Daniel T.; White, Roxie L; Werren, John H.; Wang, Xu

doi:10.3389/fmicb.2023.1152586

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 88 publications

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“…In 2001, the first microsporidian genome was published, belonging to Encephalitozoon cuniculi , a parasite of the European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) used as a model in infection studies ( 9 ). More recently, many studies have targeted microsporidian genomes, and microsporidia have become a valuable model for studying the evolution of parasitism ( 10 – 15 ). Microsporidia have the smallest eukaryotic genomes, having undergone extreme reduction, losing many metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis and lipid biosynthesis ( 11 , 16 – 19 ), and lacking mitochondrial genomes because of reductive evolution of mitochondria to form mitosomes ( 20 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Khalaf,

Lawniczak,

Blaxter

et al. 2024

Microbiol Spectr

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Microsporidia are obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites with an extremely broad host range. They have both economic and public health importance. Ploidy in microsporidia is variable, with a few species formally identified as diploid and one as polyploid. Given the increase in the number of studies sequencing microsporidian genomes, it is now possible to assess ploidy levels across all currently explored microsporidian diversity. We estimate ploidy for all microsporidian data sets available on the Sequence Read Archive using k-mer-based analyses, indicating that polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia and that ploidy change is dynamic in the group. Using genome-wide heterozygosity estimates, we also show that polyploid microsporidian genomes are relatively homozygous, and we discuss the implications of these findings on the timing of polyploidization events and their origin. IMPORTANCE Microsporidia are single-celled intracellular parasites, distantly related to fungi, that can infect a broad range of hosts, from humans all the way to protozoans. Exploiting the wealth of microsporidian genomic data available, we use k-mer-based analyses to assess ploidy status across the group. Understanding a genome’s ploidy is crucial in order to assemble it effectively and may also be relevant for better understanding a parasite’s behavior and life cycle. We show that tetraploidy is present in at least six species in Microsporidia and that these polyploidization events are likely to have occurred independently. We discuss why these findings may be paradoxical, given that Microsporidia, like other intracellular parasites, have extremely small, reduced genomes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Khalaf,

Lawniczak,

Blaxter

et al. 2024

Microbiol Spectr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In 2001, the first microsporidian genome was published, belonging to Encephalitozoon cuniculi, a parasite of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) used as a model in infection studies [9]. More recently, many studies have targeted microsporidian genomes, and microsporidia have become a valuable model for studying the evolution of parasitism [10][11][12][13][14][15]. Microsporidia have the smallest eukaryotic genomes, having undergone extreme reduction, losing many metabolic pathways, such as glycolysis and lipid biosynthesis [11,[16][17][18][19][20][21] and lacking mitochondrial genomes because of reductive evolution of mitochondria to form mitosomes [22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Khalaf,

Jaron,

Blaxter

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Microsporidia are obligate intracellular eukaryotic parasites with an extremely broad host range. They have both economic and public health importance. Ploidy in microsporidia is variable, with a few species formally identified as diploid and one as polyploid. Given the increase in the number of studies sequencing microsporidian genomes, it is now possible to assess ploidy levels across all currently-explored microsporidian diversity. We estimate ploidy for all microsporidian datasets available on the Sequence Read Archive (SRA) using k-mer-based analyses, and demonstrate that polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia, and that ploidy change is dynamic in the group. Using genome-wide heterozygosity estimates, we also show that polyploid microsporidian genomes are relatively homozygous, and we discuss the implications of these findings on the timing of polyploidisation events and their origin.Author SummaryMicrosporidia are single-celled intracellular parasites, distantly related to fungi, that can infect a broad range of hosts, from humans all the way to protozoans. Exploiting the wealth of microsporidian genomic data available, we use k-mer based analyses to assess ploidy status across the group. Understanding a genome’s ploidy is crucial in order to assemble it effectively, and may also be relevant for better understanding a parasite’s behaviour and life cycle. We show that tetraploidy is present in at least six species in Microsporidia, and that these polyploidisation events are likely to have occurred independently. We discuss why these findings may be paradoxical, given that Microsporidia, like other intracellular parasites, have extremely small, reduced genomes.

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Genome evolution in intracellular parasites: Microsporidia and Apicomplexa

Khalaf,

Francis,

Blaxter

2024

J Eukaryotic Microbiology

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Microsporidia and Apicomplexa are eukaryotic, single‐celled, intracellular parasites with huge public health and economic importance. Typically, these parasites are studied separately, emphasizing their uniqueness and diversity. In this review, we explore the huge amount of genomic data that has recently become available for the two groups. We compare and contrast their genome evolution and discuss how their transitions to intracellular life may have shaped it. In particular, we explore genome reduction and compaction, genome expansion and ploidy, gene shuffling and rearrangements, and the evolution of centromeres and telomeres.

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New insights into the genome and transmission of the microsporidian pathogen Nosema muscidifuracis

Cited by 4 publications

References 88 publications

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Polyploidy is widespread in Microsporidia

Genome evolution in intracellular parasites: Microsporidia and Apicomplexa

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