Publications by authors named "D Proestou"

Genome assembly can be challenging for species that are characterized by high amounts of polymorphism, heterozygosity, and large effective population sizes. High levels of heterozygosity can result in genome mis-assemblies and a larger than expected genome size due to the haplotig versions of a single locus being assembled as separate loci. Here, we describe the first chromosome-level genome for the eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica.

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Disease tolerance, a host's ability to limit damage from a given parasite burden, is quantified by the relationship between pathogen load and host survival or reproduction. Dermo disease, caused by the protozoan parasite , negatively impacts survival in both wild and cultured eastern oyster () populations. Resistance to has been the focus of previous studies, but tolerance also has important consequences for disease management in cultured and wild populations.

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The eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica is a major aquaculture species for the USA. The sustainable development of eastern oyster aquaculture depends upon the continued improvement of cultured stocks through advanced breeding technologies. The Eastern Oyster Breeding Consortium (EOBC) was formed to advance the genetics and breeding of the eastern oyster.

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Article Synopsis
  • Apoptosis is crucial for immune response and environmental stress management, with the IAP gene family showing significant expansion in oysters (C. virginica and C. gigas) but its functional importance remains unclear.
  • Phylogenetic analysis reveals that C. virginica has a larger expansion of IAP genes compared to C. gigas, indicating a complex history of gene duplication and domain variation not seen in model organisms.
  • Response to immune challenges shows significant expression of IAP genes, with distinct patterns between species; C. virginica shows unique responses for each challenge while C. gigas exhibits overlapping responses, suggesting differential strategies in immune defense.
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The protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus causes Dermo disease in eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, and can suppress apoptosis of infected hemocytes using incompletely understood mechanisms. This study challenged hemocytes in vitro with P. marinus for 1 h in the presence or absence of caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK or Inhibitor of Apoptosis protein (IAP) inhibitor GDC-0152.

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