Introduction - The TIGR Entamoeba histolytica Genome Project

Backround and Significance

The Wellcome Trust has recently funded the Sanger Institute Pathogen Sequencing Unit, in collaboration with Graham Clark at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, to undertake whole genome shotgun sequencing of E. histolytica. A collaborative approach is now underway at both centers to achieve a significantly higher sequence coverage of the Entamoeba genome.

We will not attempt closure of the complete sequence of the E. histolytica genome. The haploid genome of HM1 is < 20 Mb in 14 chromosomes; amebic genes have limited numbers of introns; and intergenic sequences are short.

Entamoeba histolytica - Is an early branching human enteric parasite that infects an estimated 50 million people and is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality.

Sequencing methodology

The specific steps are:

1. Prepare random 2.0 kb average insert size plasmid and 6-8 kb pHOS2 libraries of the E. histolytica genome as well as a larger-insert BAC library.
2. Sequence both ends of a sufficiently large number of randomly selected clones from the sequencing libraries sufficient to generate a high quality draft of the genome