TABLE CONTENTS

Plant Parasitic Nematode: Restricted Insertions and Deletions Inferred
from Nematode Transcriptomic Data
Wang, Z., J. Martin, Y. Yin, S. Abubucker & M. Mitreva
Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63108
The wealth of sequence information from nematodes enabled us to perform a systematic
comparative analysis of coding sequences with a focus on insertion and deletion restricted to
nematode proteins. Insertions and deletions are rare events but they may affect proteins’
structure and function. In this study we analyzed insertions and deletions in over 2,000
protein families, of which ~1,000 contained insertions and deletions restricted to nematodeoriginated
proteins (studied deletions and insertions ranged in size from 5 to over 100 bp).
Insertions and deletion were distinguished by utilizing homologous sequences from other
metazoan and fungi. Overall, there were more deletions than insertions, and there are
indications that clade V members have undergone an insertion/deletions burst. Furthermore,
the majority of insertions and deletions were generated after the divergences of the major 4
studied clades, but most of the insertions shared by more than one clade were observed on the
most common ancestor of the Phylum Nematoda. There were three sizable deletions unique
to and shared by all parasitic nematode proteins sequenced. All protein families were
functionally classified in pathway context. Proteins involved in multiple cellular pathways
tend to have more deletions and insertions. The insertions and deletions shared by plant
parasitic nematodes are biased to proteins involved in metabolism, while those proteins
involved in cellular pathways shared deletions but no insertions. The 26 protein families that
contained a total of 31 insertions and deletions (using our cut-off) restricted to plant parasitic
originated proteins will be discussed in more details.
5 th International Congress of Nematology, 2008 109