Gene survey of the pathogenic protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi

We have performed a survey of the active genes in the important human patho gen Trypanosoma cruzi by analyzing 5013 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) gene rated from a normalized epimastigote cDNA library. Clustering of all sequen ces resulted in 771 clusters, comprising 54% of the ESTs. In total, the EST s corresponded to 3054 transcripts that might represent one-fourth of the t otal gene repertoire in T. cruzi. About 33% of the T. cruzi transcripts sho wed similarity to sequences in the public databases, and a large number of hitherto undiscovered genes predicted to be involved in transcription, cell cycle control, cell division, signal transduction, secretion, and metaboli sm were identified. More than 140 full-length gene sequences were derived f rom the ESTs. Comparisons with all open reading frames in yeast and in Caen orhabditis elegans showed that only 12% of the T. cruzi transcripts were sh ared among diverse eukaryotic organisms. Comparison with other kinetoplasti d sequences identified 237 orthologous genes that are shared between these evolutionarily divergent organisms. The generated data are a useful resourc e for further studies of the biology of the parasite and for development of new means to combat Chagas' disease.