Improving Gene Model Accuracy for Genes Involved in Capsule Formation of Fungal Pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans

Abstract

Cryptococcus neoformans is a fungal pathogen that causes disease in immunocompromised individuals. One factor that contributes to the virulence of C. neoformans is its large capsule, preventing the pathogen from being destroyed by the human immune system. At least eight genes are related to capsule formation in C. neoformans. This study aimed to improve the accuracy of capsule formation gene models based on experimentally derived transcript evidence. Gene model accuracy improvement was conducted using a collaborative annotation platform by comparing transcriptome data to the original computational gene models to generate a super-transcript of each gene. Each gene model required reannotations and the models were annotated in GenSAS and are available for future research, such as in silico reconstruction of RNA and protein isoforms to provide insight into the protein functions.