Genome project of the giant kidney worm (Dyoctophyma renale )

MARCOS BUTTI; MALCOLM W. KENNEDY; MARK BLAXTER; NAHILI GIORELLO; NILDA A. RADMAN; GISELA FRANCHINI; LUCAS L MALDONADO; DOMINIK R LAETSCH; BETINA CÓRSICO; LAURA KAMENETZKY

Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge

Conferencia; Ecology, Evolution and Genomics of C. elegans and Other Nematodes 2018; 2018

Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Dyoctophyma renale, the giant kidney worm, is one of the largest parasitic nematodes of vertebrates described so far. It develops in, and completely destroys mammalian kidneys, and is thereby a debilitating and potentially lethal parasite of humans, domestic animals and endangered wildlife. D. Renale has an indirect life cycle with an annelid as an intermediate host. This is a foundational project that will underpin future work on an emerging pathogen: the sequencing and analysis of the D. renale genome and transcriptome. Previously we performed biochemical characterization of the soluble proteins from body wall, intestine, gonads and pseudocelomic fluid (PCF) of adult parasites. Two proteins, P17 (16,622 Da) and P44 (44,460 Da), dominate the PCF of both male and females. P17 accounts for the intense red colour of the adult parasites. It may function to carry or scavenge oxygen and be related to the ´nemoglobins´ found in other nematode clades. P44 was found to associate with fatty acids by thin layer chromatography and fluorescence assays. It may therefore have a role in distributing lipids within the parasites and, if also secreted, might influence local inflammatory and tissue responses. We are assembling the genome of this parasite to provide valuable information concerning its host-parasite relationship particularly biochemical and immunomodulatory functions of the PCF and other proteins.