The bandit, a New DNA Transposon from a Hookworm—Possible Horizontal Genetic Transfer between Host and Parasite Export

@article{citeulike:2539839, abstract = {Because of its importance to public health, the hookworm parasite has become the focus of increased research over the past decade—research that will ultimately decipher its genetic code. We now report a gene from hookworm chromosomes known as a transposon. Transposons are genes that can move around in the genome and even between genomes of different species. We named the hookworm transposon <italic>bandit</italic> because hookworms are ” thieves” that steal the blood of their hosts, leading to protein deficiency anemia. The <italic>bandit</italic> transposon is a close relative of a well studied assemblage of transposons, the <italic>mariner</italic>-like elements, known from the chromosomes of many other organisms. The founding member of this group—the <italic>mariner</italic> transposon—was isolated originally from a fruit fly; <italic>mariner</italic> has been harnessed in the laboratory as a valuable gene therapy tool. Likewise, it may be feasible to employ the <italic>bandit</italic> transposon for genetic manipulation of hookworms and functional genomics to investigate the importance of hookworm genes as new intervention targets. Finally, <italic>bandit</italic> may have transferred horizontally from primates to hookworm or vice versa in the relatively recent evolutionary history of the hookworm–human host–parasite relationship.</p>}, address = {Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand.}, author = {Laha, Thewarach and Loukas, Alex and Wattanasatitarpa, Supatra and Somprakhon, Jenjira and Kewgrai, Nonglack and Sithithaworn, Paiboon and Kaewkes, Sasithorn and Mitreva, Makedonka and Brindley, Paul J.}, citeulike-article-id = {2539839}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000035}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://view.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17989781}, citeulike-linkout-2 = {http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=17989781}, citeulike-linkout-3 = {http://www.wormbase.org/db/misc/paper?name=WBPaper00031187}, day = {27}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pntd.0000035}, issn = {1935-2735}, journal = {PLoS Negl Trop Dis}, keywords = {bandit, hookworm, horizontal\_transfer, horizontal\_transmission}, month = {September}, number = {1}, pages = {e35+}, posted-at = {2009-07-14 10:03:19}, priority = {2}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {The bandit, a New DNA Transposon from a Hookworm—Possible Horizontal Genetic Transfer between Host and Parasite}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000035}, volume = {1}, year = {2007} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2539839 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2539839 N2 - Because of its importance to public health, the hookworm parasite has become the focus of increased research over the past decade—research that will ultimately decipher its genetic code. We now report a gene from hookworm chromosomes known as a transposon. Transposons are genes that can move around in the genome and even between genomes of different species. We named the hookworm transposon <italic>bandit</italic> because hookworms are “thieves” that steal the blood of their hosts, leading to protein deficiency anemia. The <italic>bandit</italic> transposon is a close relative of a well studied assemblage of transposons, the <italic>mariner</italic>-like elements, known from the chromosomes of many other organisms. The founding member of this group—the <italic>mariner</italic> transposon—was isolated originally from a fruit fly; <italic>mariner</italic> has been harnessed in the laboratory as a valuable gene therapy tool. Likewise, it may be feasible to employ the <italic>bandit</italic> transposon for genetic manipulation of hookworms and functional genomics to investigate the importance of hookworm genes as new intervention targets. Finally, <italic>bandit</italic> may have transferred horizontally from primates to hookworm or vice versa in the relatively recent evolutionary history of the hookworm–human host–parasite relationship.</p> IS - 1 JF - PLoS Negl Trop Dis SN - 1935-2735 AD - Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand. TI - The bandit, a New DNA Transposon from a Hookworm—Possible Horizontal Genetic Transfer between Host and Parasite PB - Public Library of Science VL - 1 SP - e35 KW - bandit KW - hookworm KW - horizontal_transfer KW - horizontal_transmission AU - Laha, Thewarach AU - Loukas, Alex AU - Wattanasatitarpa, Supatra AU - Somprakhon, Jenjira AU - Kewgrai, Nonglack AU - Sithithaworn, Paiboon AU - Kaewkes, Sasithorn AU - Mitreva, Makedonka AU - Brindley, Paul PY - 2007/09/27/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000035 ER -