Genome Wide In Silico Identification of Helicases From Leishmania donovani

Abstract Leishmania is one of the most important protozoan parasites that causes infections in humans and is responsible for three main forms of leishmaniases—visceral (also known as kala-azar and the most serious form of the disease), cutaneous (the most common), and mucocutaneous. The availability of whole genome sequence has facilitated the genome wide analysis of genes including helicases. Helicases are ubiquitously characterized by the presence of seven to nine conserved motifs and catalyze the unwinding of nucleic acid duplexes and are involved in nucleic acid metabolism. The control of leishmaniasis is becoming increasingly challenging due to the spread of resistance with antileishmanial drugs. Helicases have been targeted to control various pathogens including viruses and for cancer control also. Whole genome of Leishmania donovani is completely sequenced, but annotation of various important genes is still in progress. A bioinformatics-based approach was used to identify the homologues in L. donovani for several human helicase families such as DEAD-box, DEAH-box, DNA repair helicases, MCM, RecQ, and RuvB families. Interestingly, we also identified an UvrD helicase in L. donovani while it was absent in the human host. This detailed genome wide in silico studies of helicases identified various important helicases, which could be used as a potential target to control the replication and transmission of the Leishmania parasite.