Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
14508 Biotechnology Advances 2009 10 Pages PDF
Abstract

Parasitic nematodes infect humans, other animals and plants, and impose a significant public health and economic burden worldwide due to the diseases that they cause. A better understanding of parasite genomes, host–parasite relationships and the molecular biology of parasites themselves will enable the rational development of diagnostic tests and/or safe anti-parasitic compounds, following the functional annotation of parasite genomic sequences. With only a few completely sequenced nematode genomes, expressed sequence tag (EST) datasets provide a low-cost alternative (“poor man's genome”) to whole genome sequences and a glimpse of the transcriptome of an organism. EST data require a number of computational methods for their pre-processing, clustering, assembly and annotation to yield biologically relevant information. In this article, we review the steps involved in EST data analysis, the development of new semi-automated bioinformatic pipelines and their application to parasitic nematodes of major socio-economic significance, focused on identifying molecules involved in key biological processes or pathways that might serve as targets for new drugs or vaccines.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Chemical Engineering Bioengineering
Authors
, , ,