First whole-genome sequence of Triatoma sanguisuga (Le Conte, 1855), vector of Chagas disease
Date
2025-02-17
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Genes | Genomes | Genetics
Abstract
Triatoma sanguisuga is the most widespread triatomine bug species in the United States. The species vectors the human parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease. Vector-borne Chagas disease is rarely diagnosed in the United States, but T. sanguisuga has been implicated in a handful of cases. Despite its public health importance, little is known about the genomics or population genetics of T. sanguisuga. Here, we used long-read sequencing to assemble the first whole-genome sequence for T. sanguisuga using DNA extracted from 1 adult specimen from Delaware. The final size of the genome was 1.162 Gb with 77.7× coverage. The assembly consisted of 183 contigs with an N50 size of 94.97 kb. The Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Ortholog complete score was 99.1%, suggesting a very complete assembly. Genome-wide GC content was 33.56%, and DNA methylation was 18.84%. The genome consists of 62.75% repetitive DNAs and 17,799 predicted coding genes. The assembled T. sanguisuga genome was very close in size and BUSCO score to that of Triatominae species T. dimidiata (1.16 Gb with 99.1% BUSCO score for T. sanguisuga vs 1.22 Gb with 98.7% BUSCO score for T. dimidiata) and slightly larger than that of T. infestans and Rhodnius prolixus (949 Mb with 90.4% BUSCO score and 706 Mb with 96.5% BUSCO score, respectively). The T. sanguisuga genome is the first North American triatomine species genome to be sequenced, allowing for deeper investigations into epidemiologically relevant aspects of triatomines in temperate climates, thus providing potential vector-borne disease management targets and strengthening public health preparedness.
Description
This article was originally published in Genes | Genomes | Genetics Published by Oxford University Press. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae308.
© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Genetics Society of America.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords
Triatoma sanguisuga, triatomine bugs, Trypanosoma cruzi, Chagas disease, disease vectors
Citation
Jennifer K Peterson, Madolyn L MacDonald, Vincenzo A Ellis, First whole-genome sequence of Triatoma sanguisuga (Le Conte, 1855), vector of Chagas disease, G3 Genes|Genomes|Genetics, Volume 15, Issue 3, March 2025, jkae308, https://doi.org/10.1093/g3journal/jkae308