Preliminary analysis of the cryptosporidium muris genome

In 1999, the National Institute of Health (NIH) recognized the importance of sequencing the genome of Cryptosporidium parvum and Cryptosporidium hominis as a means of addressing the urgent need to better understand these human parasites and identify potential drug targets. Although the genome sequences of these species are providing useful information for understanding their biology and their interaction with host cells, the high degree of similarity between the C. parvum and C. hominis genomes limits the usefulness of comparative methods. C. muris is not an important human pathogen per se, but due to its evolutionary distance to the human parasites, sequencing the C. muris genome will enhance the scientific value of the existing Cryptosporidium genome sequences. We report here on the progress with the C. muris genome project, and a preliminary analysis of the genome of this parasite. Based on a preliminary sequence assembly, the size of the C. muris genome is estimated at 8.7-9.3 Mbp with a 28.6% GC content.