Draft Genome of the Asian Buffalo Leech Hirudinaria manillensis.

De-Long Guan,Yuan Li,Da Mi,Li-Bin Ma,Qiang Qiu,Sheng-Quan Xu,Ying-Kui Liu,Zhe-Zhi Wang,Jie Yang

doi:10.3389/fgene.2019.01321

Abstract

The Asian Buffalo leech, Hirudinaria manillensis, is an aquatic sanguivorous species distributed widely in Southeast Asia. H. manillensis has long been used clinically for bloodletting and other medical purposes. Recent studies have focused on artificial culturing, strain optimization, and the identification and development new drugs based on the anticoagulant effects of H. manillensis bites; however, data regarding its genome remain unclear. This study aimed to determine the genome sequence of an adult Asian Buffalo leech. We generated a draft assembly of 151.8 Mb and a N50 scaffold of 2.28 Mb. Predictions indicated that the assembled genome contained 21,005 protein-coding genes. Up to 17,865 genes were annotated in multiple databases including Gene Ontology. Sixteen anticoagulant proteins with a Hirudin or Antistasin domain were identified. This study is the first to report the whole-genome sequence of the Asian Buffalo leech, an important sanguivorous leech of clinical significance. The quality of the assembly is comparable to those of other annelids. These data will help further the current understanding of the biological mechanisms and genetic characteristics of leeches and serve as a valuable resource for future studies.

Highlights

The Asian Buffalo leech, Hirudinaria manillensis (NCBI taxonomy ID: 1348078) (Figure 1) is a member of family Hirudinidae, order Arhynchobdellida, and phylum Annelida
Genomic DNA was extracted from muscle tissue dissected from the body of a single adult Asian Buffalo leech captured in a rice field in HeChi city, Guangxi Province
The longest scaffold was of 5.92 Mb and the median scaffold length was 17,504 bp. These parameters are comparable with the genome assemblies of other annelids and the most outstanding advantage for the present assembly is the marked reduction in the number of scaffolds (Table 1)

Summary

Introduction

The Asian Buffalo leech, Hirudinaria manillensis (NCBI taxonomy ID: 1348078) (Figure 1) is a member of family Hirudinidae, order Arhynchobdellida, and phylum Annelida. H. manillensis is a sanguivorous species, which is an important behavioral aspect in leeches with clinical significance (Chiang et al, 2000; Thompson, 2010; Kvist et al, 2011; Gãdekmerdan et al, 2011). Studies have described the anticoagulant effects of H. manillensis bites, as sites bleed copiously even hours after leech detachment (Elliott and Sawyer, 1987; Teut and Warning, 2008). This anticoagulant effect is considered the most important feature of H. manillensis and has facilitated its application for clinical bloodletting and other clinical applications (Sawyer, 1981; Abdelgabar and Bhowmick, 2003). Recent increases in the incidence of blood clots and stroke have led to numerous studies on the utility and market potential of H. manillensis products

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