Codon usage in three species of the genus Echinococcus

MALDONADO, L.; ROSENZVIT, M. C.; KAMENETZKY, L.

Congreso; Reunión Conjunta de Sociedades de BioCiencias; 2017

Speciesof the genus Echinococcus arePlatyhelminthes parasites causatives of hydatiddiseases; a zoonosis that affects animals and humans all over the world. Theyhave complex life cycles which comprise an intermediated and a definitive host,and such hosts infections specificity or preference seems to depend on the Echinococcusspecies. Previously we have sequenced and annotated the genomes of three Echinococcusspecies which have allowed to perform several analyses such as orthologystudies, genetic variability and microRNA/target genes repertory. Here weperformed codon usage analyses using a whole genome datasets for comparativegenome analysis of E. canadensis, E.multilocularis andE.granulosus on3000-4000 genes and we evaluated the nucleotide content in each position of thecodons.  The codon usage bias is thenon-random usage of synonymous codons for coding amino acids. The synonymoussites are under weak selection, and codon usage bias is kept by the equilibriumin mutational bias, genetic drift and selection pressure. The differentialcodon usage choices are also relevant to human infecting by many pathogensorganisms