African Hookworm Strain Successfully Adapted to Laboratory Model with Complete Genome Sequenced
Researchers have successfully adapted a strain of the human hookworm Necator americanus, collected from infected individuals in Beposo, Ghana, to a laboratory animal model and produced a high-quality draft genome assembly. The parasite was passaged through nine generations in Golden Syrian hamsters, and its genome was sequenced from a single adult male worm using Oxford Nanopore Technologies, yielding a 202.8 Mb assembly with over 95% of conserved nematode orthologs. This is the first comprehensive laboratory characterization of an African N. americanus strain, which could advance research into the world's most prevalent human hookworm infection.
A team of researchers has reported the laboratory adaptation and genomic characterization of a Necator americanus hookworm strain originally isolated from human infections in Beposo, Ghana. The Beposo strain was successfully maintained across nine generations in Golden Syrian hamsters treated with oral dexamethasone to suppress immunity. Drug susceptibility testing using an egg hatch assay found no known resistance-associated mutations in the beta-tubulin isotype 1 gene for mebendazole or albendazole, suggesting the strain remains sensitive to standard anthelmintic treatments. Mitochondrial COX1 gene sequencing revealed that West African specimens from Ghana and Togo are genetically distinct from South American and Asian hookworm populations, a finding corroborated by microsatellite-based population analysis that also uncovered substantial genetic diversity in the founding parasite population. The genome assembly, generated from a single adult male worm using an optimized low-input Oxford Nanopore MinION protocol, spans 202.8 Mb across 950 contigs with an N50 exceeding 449 kb and an estimated 12,804 genes. This work fills a significant gap in hookworm research, as prior laboratory-adapted strains have not originated from Africa, where transmission dynamics and parasite genetics may differ meaningfully from other endemic regions.
What's missing
The study does not report infection prevalence or disease burden data from the Beposo, Ghana collection site, nor does it address whether the hamster model faithfully replicates all aspects of human hookworm pathogenesis. Long-term stability of the laboratory-adapted strain beyond nine generations is not assessed, and the draft genome remains unfinished, with chromosome-level assembly not yet achieved. The authors acknowledge that gene prediction is homology-based, which may underestimate or misannotate genes with no close orthologs.
What different sources said
- bioRxivCenter
Laboratory adaptation and complete genome assembly of a Beposo, Ghana strain of the human hookworm Necator americanus
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