Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Bioinformatics is a way to utilize data in a technique to investigate genes on genomic levels. The nematode Setaria Digitata genome has been sequenced in a study and the genome was found to consist of a large number of genes, as expected which in turn requires more annotation. Therefore, there is a need to find relevant genes within this nematode for potential drug development. Filarial disease is a catastrophic endemic disease that occurs mainly in poor socio-economic areas. Setaria Digitata is the cattle lymphatic filariasis nematode, while the human lymphatic filariasis can be caused by Wuchereria Bancrofti, Brugia Malayi and Brugia Timori with Wuchereria being the main causative agent. Mass drug administration, constructed by health organizations has been an effective way to combat this disease, however, medicine resistance has proven to be a barrier in these processes. Therefore, there exists demand to develop new drugs or vaccines. In this study Setaria Digitata genome sequences are compared to several relevant genes that are proven to be protein/drug targets, have been known to inhibit, alter or are the antigen of filariasis nematodes. These results are analysed and compared towards each other. Different methods including pairwise alignment, remote blast and protein structure similarity was utilized based on a comprehensive literature survey. The results proved that S. Digitata genome contains several relevant genes that are significantly alike human pathogenic nematodes such as Transglutaminase with a similarity of close to 90% and nematodes, as for example Brugia Malayi with a 78.75% identical similarity, therefore it demonstrates the possibility of the nematode Setaria Digitata to be used as a model genome to the filariasis nematodes helping drug development of the disease.