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Genome Sequences of Two Strains of Prototheca wickerhamii Provide Insight Into the Protothecosis Evolution

Jian Guo, Jianbo Jian, Lili Wang, Lijuan Xiong, Huiping Lin, Ziyi Zhou, Eva C. Sonnenschein Orcid Logo, Wenjuan Wu

Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, Volume: 12

Swansea University Author: Eva C. Sonnenschein Orcid Logo

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Abstract

The Prototheca alga is the only chlorophyte known to be involved in a series of clinically relevant opportunistic infections in humans and animals, namely, protothecosis. Most pathogenic cases in humans are caused by Prototheca wickerhamii. In order to investigate the evolution of Prototheca and the...

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Published in: Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology
ISSN: 2235-2988
Published: Frontiers Media SA 2022
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61715
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Abstract: The Prototheca alga is the only chlorophyte known to be involved in a series of clinically relevant opportunistic infections in humans and animals, namely, protothecosis. Most pathogenic cases in humans are caused by Prototheca wickerhamii. In order to investigate the evolution of Prototheca and the genetic basis for its pathogenicity, the genomes of two P. wickerhamii strains S1 and S931 were sequenced using Nanopore long-read and Illumina short-read technologies. The mitochondrial, plastid, and nuclear genomes were assembled and annotated including a transcriptomic data set. The assembled nuclear genome size was 17.57 Mb with 19 contigs and 17.45 Mb with 26 contigs for strains S1 and S931, respectively. The number of predicted protein-coding genes was approximately 5,700, and more than 96% of the genes could be annotated with a gene function. A total of 2,798 gene families were shared between the five currently available Prototheca genomes. According to the phylogenetic analysis, the genus of Prototheca was classified in the same clade with A. protothecoides and diverged from Chlorella ~500 million years ago (Mya). A total of 134 expanded genes were enriched in several pathways, mostly in metabolic pathways, followed by biosynthesis of secondary metabolites and RNA transport. Comparative analysis demonstrated more than 96% consistency between the two herein sequenced strains. At present, due to the lack of sufficient understanding of the Prototheca biology and pathogenicity, the diagnosis rate of protothecosis is much lower than the actual infection rate. This study provides an in-depth insight into the genome sequences of two strains of P. wickerhamii isolated from the clinic to contribute to the basic understanding of this alga and explore future prevention and treatment strategies.
Keywords: Prototheca wickerhamii, protothecosis, algae, whole genome sequencing, pathogenic
College: Faculty of Science and Engineering
Funders: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation [grant number 81971990], Key Discipline of Public Health in Shanghai [grant number GWV-10.1-XK04], Excellent Technology Leader in Shanghai [grant number 20XD1434500], and Novo Nordisk Foundation [grant number NNF20OC0064249].