Genomic insights into the Ixodes scapularis tick vector of Lyme disease

Ticks transmit more pathogens to humans and animals than any other arthropod. We describe the 2.1 Gbp nuclear genome of the tick, Ixodes scapularis (Say), which vectors pathogens that cause Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, babesiosis and other diseases. The large genome reflects accumulation of repetitive DNA, new lineages of retro-transposons, and gene architecture patterns resembling ancient metazoans rather than pancrustaceans. Annotation of scaffolds representing ∼57% of the genome, reveals 20,486 protein-coding genes and expansions of gene families associated with tick-host interactions. We report insights from genome analyses into parasitic processes unique to ticks, including host…

• NS
  National Science Foundation

  Awards: 1333468, 47405, IOS-0949194, 0949194
• UD
  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• UD
  U.S. Department of Agriculture
• TA
  Texas AgriLife Research
• PU
  Purdue University
• MI
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• OS
  Oklahoma State University
• CS
  Colorado State University
• UO
  University of Minnesota
• NC
  North Carolina State University
• UO
  University of Connecticut
• UO
  University of Notre Dame
• PS
  Pennsylvania State University

  Award: 16802
• CS
  California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
• NB
  NHS Blood and Transplant
• IS
  Iowa State University
• WV
  West Virginia University
• OD
  Old Dominion University
• WT
  Wellcome Trust
• UO
  University of Nevada, Reno
• EB
  European Bioinformatics Institute
• FN
  Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research
• BI
  Broad Institute
• L
  Leidos
• UP
  Universitat Pompeu Fabra
• ST
  Seres Therapeutics
• UC
  University College London
• UO
  University of Oxford
• NU
  National University of Singapore
• SN
  Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung

  Awards: 35302, 1333468, 31003A-125350, 205202, 143936, 55108, 27709, 10117, 125350, 31003A, 20850, 59840, 66506, 27695
• UO
  University of the Sunshine Coast
• L
  Lundbeckfonden
• UD
  Universitat de Barcelona
• CN
  Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares
• UD
  Université de Genève
• UD
  Université de Lausanne
• IN
  Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique
• UD
  Universidade de Vigo
• UD
  Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
• AN
  Agence Nationale de Sécurité Sanitaire de l’Alimentation, de l’Environnement et du Travail
• XD
  Xunta de Galicia
• JD
  Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha
• HL
  H. Lundbeck A/S
• IL
  International Livestock Research Institute
• UD
  Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Awards: R01AI017828, R01AI043006, HHSN272200900040C, 1R21AI096268, TL1 TR000162, HHSN272200900039C, HHSN272200900007C, TR000162
• DF
  Directorate for Biological Sciences
• UO
  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  Award: 61801
• HS
  Health Science Center, University of Tennessee
• UO
  University of California, San Francisco
• CS
  Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• AR
  Australian Research Council

  Award: DP120100240
• NH
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• NI
  National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

  Awards: R01AI017828, HHSN272200900007C, HHSN272200900040C, HHSN266200400039C
• UN
  U.S. National Library of Medicine
• DO
  Division of Integrative Organismal Systems
• NC
  National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences

  Award: TL1 TR000162