High throughput sequencing of the Angiostrongylus cantonensis genome: a parasite spreading worldwide

SUMMARYAngiostrongylus cantonensis is a parasitic nematode of rodents and a leading aetiological agent of eosinophilic meningitis in humans. Definitive diagnosis is difficult, often relying on immunodiagnostic methods which utilize crude antigens. New immunodiagnostic methods based on recombinant proteins are being developed, and ideally these methods would be made available worldwide. Identification of diagnostic targets, as well as studies on the biology of the parasite, are limited by a lack of molecular information on Angiostrongylus spp. available in databases. In this study we present data collected from DNA random high-throughput sequencing together with proteomic analyses and a cDNA walking methodology to identify and obtain the nucleotide or amino acid sequences of unknown immunoreactive proteins. 28 080 putative ORFs were obtained, of which 3371 had homology to other deposited protein sequences. Using the A. cantonensis genomic sequences, 156 putative ORFs, matching peptide sequences obtained from previous proteomic studies, were considered novel, with no homology to existing sequences. Full-length coding sequences of eight antigenic target proteins were obtained. In this study we generated not only the complete nucleotide sequences of the antigenic protein targets but also a large amount of genomic data which may help facilitate future genomic, proteomic, transcriptomic or metabolomic studies on Angiostrongylus.