Diseases caused by unicellular parasitic organisms belonging to the eukaryotic phylum Apicomplexa are notoriously difficult to treat. The most prominent organisms in this phylum are Plasmodium, the causative agent of malaria, and the AIDS-related pathogens, Toxoplasma and Cryptosporidium. Current treatments for these organisms, when they exist, are threatened by the emergence of drug resistance or are of limited efficacy. The consequence is that millions of people, primarily children, die annually. New therapeutics is needed. All good therapeutic targets have one feature in common;the target molecule/pathway in the pathogen is sufficiently distinct from similar molecules/pathways in the host such that therapeutic compounds can be discriminated between. Apicomplexan parasites, like us, are eukaryotic organisms. Thus, there are fewer novel targets available for therapeutics to discriminate between. However, apicomplexan parasites have had an eventful evolutionary history involving endo-symbiosis of a red alga and numerous gene transfers from the alga and other bacteria. These evolutionary distant sources of genetic material can provide potential new therapeutic targets. The challenge is to find them. A systematic, evolutionary genomic search of the metabolic, immune evasive and host adaptive capabilities of apicomplexan pathogens is proposed. The experimental plan described here exploits the complex evolutionary history of the Apicomplexa and the increased availability of genome sequence data for numerous parasites and their human host. The origins of novel parasite capabilities and the types of innovation and adaptation to host created by the gain or loss of particular metabolic or evasive capabilities will be investigated. The molecular mechanisms underlying the remarkable genetic plasticity of apicomplexan parasites, in particular the possible role of mobile and repetitive DNA elements in these processes will be explored. Finally, this study will reveal metabolic processes that are present, absent, or strikingly different in genera of this phylum relative to their human host. Taken together, this approach should shed considerable light on the basic biology of the Apicomplexa, reveal potential new therapeutic targets and test several important assumptions about how eukaryotic genomes evolve. The results of these studies will be shared with the larger research community via publication and deposition in community databases and Bioinformatics Resource Centers.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI068908-04
Application #
7756591
Study Section
Pathogenic Eukaryotes Study Section (PTHE)
Program Officer
Joy, Deirdre A
Project Start
2007-02-01
Project End
2013-01-31
Budget Start
2010-02-01
Budget End
2013-01-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$322,314
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Georgia
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
004315578
City
Athens
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30602
DeBarry, Jeremy D; Kissinger, Jessica C (2014) A survey of innovation through duplication in the reduced genomes of twelve parasites. PLoS One 9:e99213
Wang, Yupeng; Tang, Haibao; Debarry, Jeremy D et al. (2012) MCScanX: a toolkit for detection and evolutionary analysis of gene synteny and collinearity. Nucleic Acids Res 40:e49
Lucchi, Naomi W; Poorak, Mitra; Oberstaller, Jenna et al. (2012) A new single-step PCR assay for the detection of the zoonotic malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi. PLoS One 7:e31848
DeBarry, Jeremy D; Kissinger, Jessica C (2011) Jumbled genomes: missing Apicomplexan synteny. Mol Biol Evol 28:2855-71
Demas, Allison; Oberstaller, Jenna; Debarry, Jeremy et al. (2011) Applied genomics: data mining reveals species-specific malaria diagnostic targets more sensitive than 18S rRNA. J Clin Microbiol 49:2411-8
Kissinger, Jessica C; DeBarry, Jeremy (2011) Genome cartography: charting the apicomplexan genome. Trends Parasitol 27:345-54
Mullapudi, Nandita; Joseph, Sandeep J; Kissinger, Jessica C (2009) Identification and functional characterization of cis-regulatory elements in the apicomplexan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Genome Biol 10:R34
Pritham, Ellen J (2009) Transposable elements and factors influencing their success in eukaryotes. J Hered 100:648-55
Kuo, Chih-Horng; Wares, John P; Kissinger, Jessica C (2008) The Apicomplexan whole-genome phylogeny: an analysis of incongruence among gene trees. Mol Biol Evol 25:2689-98
Kuo, Chih-Horng; Kissinger, Jessica C (2008) Consistent and contrasting properties of lineage-specific genes in the apicomplexan parasites Plasmodium and Theileria. BMC Evol Biol 8:108

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