Angiostrongylus cantonensis Genome sequencing and assembly

Angiostrongylus cantonensis is the most common parasitic cause of eosinophilic meningitis. Adult A. cantonensis live in the pulmonary arteries of rats. The females lay eggs that hatch, yielding first­stage larvae, in the terminal branches of the pulmonary arteries. The first­stage larvae migrate to the pharynx, are swallowed, and pass in the feces. They penetrate, or are ingested by, an intermediate host (snail or slug). After two molts, third­stage larvae are produced, which are infective to mammalian hosts. When the mollusk is ingested by the definitive host, the third­stage larvae migrate to the brain where they develop into IV and V stage larvae. The V stage larvae return to the venous system and then to the pulmonary arteries, where they become sexually mature. Humans can acquire the infection by eating raw or undercooked snails or slugs infected with the parasite.Here, we sequenced the genome and transcriptome across different development stages to investigate potential genetic basis of its complex life-cycle.