Evolutionary genomics of Entamoeba

Entamoeba histolytica is a human pathogen that causes amoebic dysentery and leads to significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Understanding the genome and evolution of the parasite will help explain how, when and why it causes disease. Here we review current knowledge about the evolutionary genomics of Entamoeba: how differences between the genomes of different species may help explain different phenotypes, and how variation among E. histolytica parasites reveals patterns of population structure. The imminent expansion of the amount genome data will greatly improve our knowledge of the genus and of pathogenic species within it.