Whole Genome Sequencing and Annotation of Representative Strains of Spiroplasma Mirum

米鲁姆螺原体代表菌株全基因组测序及注释

• 批准号: 0827012
• 负责人: Frank Bastian
• 金额: $ 18.5万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University Agricultural Center
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0827012&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Whole; Genome; Sequencing; Annotation; Representative

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.

分子菌是一种进化上有趣的细菌群，基因组小，没有细胞壁；它们通常以寄生虫的形式生活。螺原体是一种不寻常的分子，因为这些细胞具有螺旋状形态并以螺旋状方式移动。细螺旋体是动物和甲壳类动物的潜在病原体。有证据表明，沙门氏菌与动物的传染性海绵状脑病（TSE）有关，对农业实践和人类健康具有重大影响。此外，在分子水平上对螺原体的研究通常很少。Drs。路易斯安那州立大学农业中心的弗兰克·巴斯蒂安和罗纳德·图恩将获得三种螺旋体基因组的完整序列：一种分离的兔蜱螺旋体；最近从感染痒病的绵羊脑中分离到的一种螺旋体，与米氏螺旋体密切相关；以及一种非致病性螺旋体，蒙塔那氏螺旋体。到目前为止，只有部分孔克里螺旋体和柑橘螺旋体基因组被测序。然而，这些螺旋体是植物病原体，与S. mirum有很大的差异。S. mirum是唯一在实验中引起动物持续感染的螺旋体，包括小鼠、大鼠和反刍动物。这些研究人员假设，直接比较来自患TSE的反刍动物大脑的S. mirum，一种S. mirum样螺旋体和一种非致病性螺旋体的基因组将为某些动物和人类的TSE发病机制提供证据。巴斯蒂安实验室对致病性动物螺旋体与侵染植物和昆虫的螺旋体进行比较研究，将有助于鉴定毒力基因。巴斯蒂安/图恩项目将有一些教育和推广活动，这些活动将与研究相互交织。首先，博士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，为高中教师提供微生物基因组学方面的指导。第二，该项目将通过Howard Hughes项目支持一名本科生，通过LSU/SVM暑期学者项目支持一名兽医学生，积极参与2010年国际支原体学组织（IOM）国际科学大会期间的研究和螺旋体基因组研讨会。第三，Bastian/Thune实验室将为高中生物教师举办3-4次研讨会，这些研讨会将提供各种在线资源，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个完整的螺旋体基因组，这将增加对螺旋体生物学在动植物疾病和人类健康中的认识。这三个基因组将允许对先前测序的kunkelii和S. citri基因组以及其他可用的分子序列进行比较生物信息学分析。