The purpose of a B. saltans genome sequence is to provide an 'outgroup' for comparative genomic studies. As it is among the closest bodonid relatives of the trypanosomatids, it will provide a model of the ancestral trypanosomatid to distinguish those derived parts of the parasite genomes (i.e., unique trypanosomatid adaptations) from those which are a legacy of the free-living ancestor. This objective can be resolved into three principal comparative issues:

1. Trypanosomatid disease; understanding how human trypanosomatid parasites acquired their distinct pathological strategies;

2. Evolution of parasitism; understanding how the ancestral trypanosomatid became parasitic in terms of derived innovations (e.g., cell surfaces) and loss of genomic repertoire;

3. Eukaryotic evolution; understanding how typical kinetoplastid features (e.g., glycosomes) evolved and how these might have been modified for parasitism.

Published Genome Data

A pilot study that described ~400kbp of B. saltans genome sequenced from a whole genome fosmid library has been published (Jackson, Quail & Berriman 2008, BMC Genomics, 9:594). Subsequently, around 4Mb of sequence was extracted from the fosmid library and around 1200 genes have been annotated. This preliminary data can be searched using BLAST via the Sanger service or through GeneDB.

In July 2011 the entire B. saltans genome was sequenced using 76bp Illumina reads. Assembly of these sequences produced the first draft genome sequence, which can be downloaded via the ftp site: ftp://ftp.sanger.ac.uk/pub/pathogens/Bodo/saltans. Once annotated, these scaffolds will be made available through GeneDB and BLAST databases.