Project description:Fasciolopsis buski is the largest fluke parasitizing the human small intestine. F. buski infections are not uncommon in Southeast Asia. The risk factors of F. buski infection mainly include eating of raw aquatic crops and infected snails. Most infections are asymptomatic. Heavy infection can be fatal as the flukes cause extensive intestinal inflammation, intestinal perforation, small bowel stricture, ulceration, hemorrhage, and abscess formation. Endoscopic diagnosis of this parasite has been described in a few case reports. Here, we describe and illustrate the endoscopic removal of F. buski from the stomach and duodenum.
Project description:Many trematode parasites cause infection in humans and are thought to be a major public health problem. Their ecological diversity in different regions provides challenging questions on evolution of these organisms. In this report, we perform transcriptome analysis of the giant intestinal fluke, Fasciolopsis buski, using next generation sequencing technology. Short read sequences derived from polyA containing RNA of this organism were assembled into 30,677 unigenes that led to the annotation of 12,380 genes. Annotation of the assembled transcripts enabled insight into processes and pathways in the intestinal fluke, such as RNAi pathway and energy metabolism. The expressed kinome of the organism was characterized by identifying all protein kinases. A rough draft genome assembly for Fasciolopsis buski is also reported herewith with SRA accessions for crosschecking the findings in the analyzed transcriptome data. Transcriptome data also helped us to identify some of the expressed transposable elements. Though many Long Interspersed elements (LINEs) were identified, only two Short Interspersed Elements (SINEs) were visible. Overall transcriptome and draft genome analysis of F. buski helped us to characterize some of its important biological characteristics and provided enormous resources for development of a suitable diagnostic system and anti-parasitic therapeutic molecules.
Project description:BACKGROUNDFasciolopsis buski is a zoonotic intestinal fluke infecting humans and pigs, but it has been seriously neglected. It is yet to know whether there is any genetic diversity among F. buski from different geographical locations, particularly in sequences of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and mitochondrial (mt) DNA. Therefore, we determined the sequences of partial 18S, the complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) rDNA and the complete mt genome of F. buski from China, compared the rDNA and mtDNA sequences with those of isolates from India and Vietnam, and assessed the phylogenetic relationships of this fluke and related fasciolid trematodes based on the mtDNA dataset.RESULTSThe complete mt genome sequence of F. buski from China is 14,833 bp, with 36 genes, including 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 tRNA genes, and two rRNA genes (rrnL and rrnS). The AT content of F. buski from China is 65.12%. The gene content and arrangement of the F. buski mt genome is similar to that of Fascioloides magna. Genetic distances between isolates of F. buski from China and India were high (28.2% in mtDNA, 13.2% in ITS-1 and 9.8% in ITS-2) and distinctly higher than the interspecific differences between Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica. The rDNA and mtDNA datasets for F. buski from China (isolate from pigs) and Vietnam (isolates from humans) were identical. The intergeneric differences in amino acid and nucleotide sequences among the genera Fasciolopsis, Fascioloides and Fasciola ranged between 24.64-25.56% and 26.35-28.46%, respectively.CONCLUSIONSOur results indicate that F. buski from China and India may represent distinct taxa, while F. buski in Vietnam and China represent the same species. These findings might have implications for the implementation of appropriate control strategies in different regions. Further studies are needed to decode mtDNA and rDNA sequences of F. buski from various geographical isolates for the better understanding of the species complex of F. buski.
Project description:The complete mitogenome sequences of the intestinal fluke Fasciolopsis buski are presented for the first time in this study. It is 14,119 bp long and is thus the shortest trematode mitochondrial genome sequenced to date. The F. buski mtDNA genome has a close resemblance with F. hepatica and has a similar gene order tallying with that of other trematodes. The overall base composition of F. buski mitogenome is 17.89% for A, 9.16% for C, 27.59% for G and 45.36% for T, and has a GC content of 36.75%. The assembled mitogenome (GenBank accession number KX449331) consists of 12 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNAs and two ribosomal RNA genes. The mtDNA for the intestinal fluke reported herein would help investigate Fasciolidae taxonomy and systematics with the aid of mtDNA NGS data.