Alternative splicing is required for stage differentiation in malaria parasites.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In multicellular organisms, alternative splicing is central to tissue differentiation and identity. Unicellular protists lack multicellular tissue but differentiate into variable cell types during their life cycles. The role of alternative splicing in transitions between cell types and establishing cellular identity is currently unknown in any unicellular organism.

Results

To test whether alternative splicing in unicellular protists plays a role in cellular differentiation, we conduct RNA-seq to compare splicing in female and male sexual stages to asexual intraerythrocytic stages in the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. We find extensive changes in alternative splicing between stages and a role for alternative splicing in sexual differentiation. Previous

SUBMITTER: Yeoh LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6669979 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature