dc.contributor.author | Shah, Sarah | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2019-11-28T16:05:45Z | |
dc.date.available | 2019-11-28T16:05:45Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2019-11-28T16:05:45Z | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10222/76688 | |
dc.description.abstract | Blastocystis spp. are unicellular anaerobic stramenopiles that inhabit the colons of a wide range of animals. Previous genome studies of Blastocystis were restricted to mammalian and avian-colonizing subtypes. To investigate a deeper-branching subtype, I used next generation sequencing technologies to characterize the genome of a Blastocystis species from the Oriental cockroach. The ≈40kb mitochondrion-related organelle (MRO) genome was larger than other Blastocystis subtypes but had mostly conserved gene content and order. The nuclear genome was 17.1 Mbp in length, 19.9% GC and differed from other Blastocystis subtypes in gene content by 15-27%. Amongst the encoded proteins are key enzymes of anaerobic ATP generation. Laterally-acquired genes previously described in Blastocystis sp. ST1 were also identified. Unexpectedly, 40% of the nuclear genes possessed homopolymer trinucleotide insertions encoding polyasaparagines. If these mutations are slightly deleterious, they were possibly fixed in the population by genetic drift due to a small effective population size. | en_US |
dc.language.iso | en | en_US |
dc.subject | genome | en_US |
dc.subject | Blastocystis | en_US |
dc.subject | stramenopiles | en_US |
dc.subject | lateral gene transfer | en_US |
dc.subject | evolution | en_US |
dc.title | The Genome of Blastocystis sp. Isolated from the Oriental cockroach | en_US |
dc.date.defence | 2018-08-07 | |
dc.contributor.department | Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | en_US |
dc.contributor.degree | Master of Science | en_US |
dc.contributor.external-examiner | n/a | en_US |
dc.contributor.graduate-coordinator | Dr. Jan Rainey | en_US |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Dr. John Archibald | en_US |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Dr. Melanie Dobson | en_US |
dc.contributor.thesis-reader | Dr. Claudio Slamovits | en_US |
dc.contributor.thesis-supervisor | Dr. Andrew Roger | en_US |
dc.contributor.ethics-approval | Not Applicable | en_US |
dc.contributor.manuscripts | Not Applicable | en_US |
dc.contributor.copyright-release | Not Applicable | en_US |