Amoebozoa is a eukaryotic supergroup composed of unicellular and multicellular amoebic protozoa (e.g. Acanthamoeba, Dictyostelium, and Entamoeba). They are model organisms for studies in cellular and evolutionary biology and are of medical and veterinary importance. Despite their importance, Amoebozoan genome organization and genetic diversity remain poorly studied due to a lack of high-quality reference genomes. The slime mold Dictyostelium discoideum is the only Amoebozoan species whose genome is available at the chromosome-level. Here, we provide a near-chromosome-level assembly of the Entamoeba histolytica genome, the second semi-completed Amoebozoan genome. The availability of this improved genome allowed us to discover inter-strain heterogeneity in ploidy at the near-chromosome or sub-chromosome level among 11 clinical isolates and the reference strain. Furthermore, we observed ploidy-independent regulation of gene expression, contrary to what is observed in other organisms, where RNA levels are affected by ploidy. Our findings offer new insights into Entamoeba chromosome organization, ploidy, transcriptional regulation, and inter-strain variation, which will help to further decipher observed spectrums of virulence, disease symptoms, and drug sensitivity of E. histolytica isolates.

中文翻译：

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近染色体水平的基因组组装揭示了肠道原生动物寄生虫溶组织内阿米巴的倍性多样性和可塑性

阿米巴动物是由单细胞和多细胞阿米巴原生动物（例如棘阿米巴、网柄菌和内阿米巴）组成的真核超群。它们是细胞和进化生物学研究的模式生物，具有医学和兽医学的重要性。尽管它们很重要，但由于缺乏高质量的参考基因组，Amoebozoan 基因组组织和遗传多样性仍然缺乏研究。粘液霉菌盘基网柄菌是唯一一种其基因组可在染色体水平获得的变形虫物种。在这里，我们提供了溶组织内阿米巴基因组的近染色体水平组装，这是第二个半完整的变形虫基因组。这种改进的基因组的可用性使我们能够在 11 个临床分离株和参考菌株中发现近染色体或亚染色体水平的倍性菌株间异质性。此外，我们观察到基因表达的倍性独立调节，这与在其他生物体中观察到的相反，其中 RNA 水平受倍性影响。我们的研究结果为内阿米巴染色体组织、倍性、转录调控和菌株间变异提供了新的见解，这将有助于进一步破译观察到的溶组织内阿米巴分离株的毒力、疾病症状和药物敏感性谱。