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Principal Investigator: Theodore Clark
Contact Information: E-mail: tgc3@cornell.edu - Phone: 607-253-4042
Sponsor: USDA- The Craig Venter Institute
Grant Number: 2007-35600-18539
Title: Genome Sequence of the Parasitic Ciliate, Ichthyophthirisus Multifiliis
Annual Direct Cost: $24,326
Project Period: 09/15/07-09/14/09
DESCRIPTION (provided by Dr. Robert Coyne): As the etiologic agent of "white-spot" disease in freshwater fish, Ichthyophthirius multifiliis, or Ich, affects a wide range of freshwater fish species and is a major pest within the aquaculture industry in this country and abroad. It was identified by the USDA Microbial Genomics Workshop (2000) as one of 12 potential targets for large-scale sequencing efforts. In 2003, the subcontract PIs of this proposal were awarded a NSF/USDA Microbial Genome Sequencing Program grant for EST sequencing of Ich. They have identified partial EST information for over 5,000 Ich genes out of an estimated 10,000 or more. As useful as this information is for the identification of potential vaccine antigens and other purposes, whole genome sequence information will be much more valuable for vaccine design and the identification of potential drug targets by comparative metabolic reconstruction. In addition, Ich is intermediate in evolutionary distance between the free-living genetic and cell biological model organisms Tetrahymena Thermophila and Paramecium tetraurelia, both of which have been sequenced in recent years. Thus, comparative genomics is expected to aid in structural annotation of these important experimental models and reveal novel insights into their complex evolutionary histories, their interesting genetic mechanisms (such as RNAi-mediated genome-wide chromosome rearrangements), their elaborate animal-like cell biology, and especially the evolutionary adaptations that allow adoption of a parasitic lifestyle.
The broader impacts of this project are several. First, an ever-increasing world-wide demand for farm-raised fish threatened by outbreaks of Ich, for which there are few effective preventive or treatment options. Second, the Ich genome sequence data will serve a broader community of scientists interested in comparative genomics of ciliates and related parasites, such as the apicomplexans that cause many devastating diseases of humans and agriculturally important animals. Third, the project will provide training opportunities for future basic and medical (veterinary and human) researchers, both at TIGR and at Cornell.
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