IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL GENES FROM ENTAMOEBA-HISTOLYTICA BY EXPRESSEDSEQUENCE TAG ANALYSIS

Shotgun sequencing of cDNA clones is now an established approach to ga in insight into the expressed nucleotide (nt) sequences in a given cel l. We analysed 100 randomly picked cDNA clones of the protozoan parasi te, Entamoeba histolytica, by nt sequencing, with a view to obtain nov el gene sequences not detected so far by biochemical and genetic analy ses. About 56% of the analysed clones showed significant homology with other genes in the database, including a number of genes whose presen ce may not be suspected in E. histolytica owing to its unusual subcell ular organization. The results suggest that this approach can provide important clues to understand unique biochemical mechanisms in this pa rasite.