Whole Genome Sequencing and Annotation of Representative Strains of Spiroplasma Mirum

软体动物是一类在进化上很有趣的细菌，其基因组较小且没有细胞壁。它们通常以寄生虫的形式生活。螺原体是不寻常的软体动物，因为这些细胞具有螺旋形态并以螺旋方式移动。米尔螺原体是动物和甲壳类动物的潜在病原体。有证据表明，S. mirum 与动物传染性海绵状脑病 (TSE) 有关，对农业实践和人类健康具有重大影响。此外，螺旋原体在分子水平上的研究通常很少。博士。路易斯安那州立大学农业中心的弗兰克·巴斯蒂安（Frank Bastian）和罗纳德·图恩（Ronald Thune）将获得三种螺原体基因组的完整序列：Mirum螺原体，一种兔蜱分离株；螺原体 sp.最近从感染痒病的羊脑中分离出来，与 S. mirum 密切相关；以及一种非致病性螺原体，山地螺原体。到目前为止，仅对昆克螺原体和柑橘螺原体的部分基因组进行了测序。然而，这些螺旋原体是植物病原体，与微小螺旋原体有很大不同。 S. mirum 是唯一的螺原体。在实验中引起动物（包括小鼠、大鼠和反刍动物）的持续感染。这些研究人员推测，直接比较 S. mirum（一种来自受 TSE 影响的反刍动物大脑的 S. mirum 样螺原体）和非致病性螺原体的基因组将为某些动物和人类中 TSE 的发病机制提供证据。巴斯蒂安实验室对致病性动物螺原体与感染植物和昆虫的螺原体进行的比较研究将导致沙门氏菌毒力基因的鉴定。 Bastian/Thune 项目将开展一系列与研究相结合的教育和推广活动。首先，博士学位。研究生将接受微生物基因组学方面的培训，并作为本科生的导师，并向高中教师提供微生物基因组学指导。其次，该项目将通过霍华德休斯计划支持一名本科生，并通过 LSU/SVM 暑期学者计划支持一名兽医学生，作为研究的积极参与者，并参加 2010 年国际支原体学组织 (IOM) 国际科学大会期间的螺原体基因组研讨会。第三，Bastian/Thune 实验室将为高中生物教师举办 3-4 场研讨会，这些研讨会将提供各种在线资源的培训，这些资源可以从他们的教室访问。最后，Bastian/Thune 实验室将向社区数据库添加 3 个完整的螺原体基因组，这将增进对螺原体生物学在植物和动物疾病以及人类健康中的了解。这三个基因组将允许对先前测序的 S. kunkelii 和 S. citri 基因组以及其他可用的软体动物序​​列进行比较生物信息学分析。

Mollicutes are an evolutionarily interesting group of bacteria with small genomes and without cell walls; they typically live as parasites. Spiroplasma are unusual mollicutes in that these cells have a helical morphology and move in a corkscrew fashion. Spiroplasma mirum is a potential pathogen in animals and crustaceans. There is evidence that S. mirum has been associated with transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) of animals with significant implications to agricultural practices and human health. Also, spiroplasma are generally poorly studied at the molecular level. Drs. Frank Bastian and Ronald Thune of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center will be obtaining a finished, complete sequence of three spiroplasma genomes: Spiroplasma mirum, a rabbit tick isolate; a Spiroplasma sp. isolated recently from scrapie-infected sheep brain and closely related to S. mirum; and a non-pathogenic spiroplasma, Spiroplasma montanense. To this point, only partial Spiroplasma kunkelii and Spiroplasma citri genomes have been sequenced. However, these spiroplasma are plant pathogens and widely divergent from S. mirum. S. mirum is the only Spiroplasma sp. to experimentally cause persistent infection in animals, including mice, rats and ruminants. These investigators postulate that direct comparison of the genomes of S. mirum, an S. mirum-like spiroplasma from TSE-affected ruminant brain, and a non-pathogenic spiroplasma will provide evidence for the pathogenesis of TSE in some animals and in humans. Comparative studies by the Bastian lab of pathogenic animal spiroplasma and those infecting plants and insects will lead to the identification of S. mirum virulence genes. The Bastian/Thune project will have a number of education and outreach activities which will interweave with the research. First, a Ph.D. graduate student will be trained in microbial genomics and as a mentor for undergraduate students and by providing microbial genomics instruction to high school teachers. Second, the project will be supporting an undergraduate student through the Howard Hughes Program and a veterinary student through the LSU/SVM Summer Scholars Program as active participants in the research and in the Spiroplasma Genome workshop during the International Organization for Mycoplasmology (IOM) International Scientific Congress in 2010. Thirdly, the Bastian/Thune labs will be conducting 3-4 workshops for high school biology teachers, which will be providing training with a variety of online resources which can be accessed from their classrooms. Finally, the Bastian/Thune labs will be adding 3 complete spiroplasma genomes to the community database, which will increase understanding of spiroplasma biology in plant and animal diseases and in human health. These three genomes will permit comparative bioinformatic analysis of the previously sequenced S. kunkelii and S. citri genomes, as well as of other available mollicute sequences.