寄生虫基因密码 z-bo 2020-12-16 453

　　A team composed of experts from the "Academic Research Institute" in Taiwan, the Sanger Institute of Genetics in the United Kingdom, and Miyazaki University in Japan has cracked the nematode genome and may help develop vaccines against such parasite families in the future. This report was published in the journal Nature Genetics on February 1. Dr. Yisheng Cai, the first co-author of this research report and an assistant researcher at the Biodiversity Research Center of the Academia Sinica in Taiwan, introduced to the BBC that the global population Among them, 1/6 may be threatened by nematodes.

　　Nematodes are parasites commonly found in the soil, and the World Health Organization lists them as one of the most overlooked sources of tropical diseases. The nematode family is said to have a wide range of members, with more than 28,000 recorded species; many of them are parasitic in vertebrates including humans, harming the health of the host and sometimes even causing death. Dr. Cai revealed that this study systematically analyzed the genomes of 6 species of S. elegans that are prevalent in tropical and subtropical worms, including absolute parasitism, facultative parasitism, and independent living patterns, and compared them on a large scale with all currently published Nematode genes. The purpose of this research is to find the mechanism of how the nematode family evolved from independent survival to absolute parasitism from the genetic aspect.

　　 They found that there are only two gene families that will increase the parasitic nematode genes on a large scale, and they have sustained high expression levels in different hosts.

　　 Experts believe that this is the key to the development of animal parasitic behavior in nematodes. Dr. Cai said that what is more noteworthy is a gene family called SCP/TAPS, which was found to be directly related to the parasitic host mechanism in the distantly related hookworms and schistosomes. Therefore, it may help to develop vaccines or formulate in the future. Effective epidemic prevention strategy.