*Institute of Cell, Animal and Population Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JT, UK. †Department of Biological Sciences, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK. ‡Current address: Program in Genetics and Genomic Biology, Hospital for Sick Children, University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada. §Current address: Facultad de Química, Cátedra de Inmunología, Universita de la Republica, Montevideo 11300, Uruguay. Correspondence: Rick M Maizels. E-mail: reviews Published: 18 May 2004 Genome Biology 2004, 5:R39 The electronic version of this article is the. | Research Open Access Signal sequence analysis of expressed sequence tags from the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and the evolution of secreted proteins in parasites Yvonne M Harcus John Parkinson Cecilia Fernández Jennifer Daub Murray E Selkirk Mark L Blaxter and Rick M Maizels Addresses Institute of Cell Animal and Population Biology University of Edinburgh Edinburgh EH9 3JT UK. Department of Biological Sciences Imperial College London London SW7 2AZ UK. Current address Program in Genetics and Genomic Biology Hospital for Sick Children University Avenue Toronto Ontario M5G 1X8 Canada. Current address Facultad de Química Cátedra de Inmunología Universita de la Republica Montevideo 11300 Uruguay. Correspondence Rick M Maizels. E-mail Published 18 May 2004 Genome Biology 2004 5 R39 The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at http 2004 5 6 R39 Received 30 December 2003 Revised 14 April 2004 Accepted 29 April 2004 2004 Harcus et al. licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose provided this notice is preserved along with the article s original URL. Abstract Background Parasitism is a highly successful mode of life and one that requires suites of gene adaptations to permit survival within a potentially hostile host. Among such adaptations is the secretion of proteins capable of modifying or manipulating the host environment. Nippostrongylus brasiliensis is a well-studied model nematode parasite of rodents which secretes products known to modulate host immunity. Results Taking a genomic approach to characterize potential secreted products we analyzed expressed sequence tag EST sequences for putative amino-terminal secretory signals. We sequenced ESTs from a cDNA library constructed by oligo-capping to select full-length cDNAs as well as from conventional cDNA libraries. .
