Comparative Transcriptomics across Nematode Life Cycles Reveal Gene Expression Conservation and Correlated Evolution in Adjacent Developmental Stages.

ABSTRACT: Nematodes are highly abundant animals with diverse habitats and lifestyles. Some are free living whereas others parasitize animals or plants, and among the latter, infection abilities change across developmental stages to infect hosts and complete life cycles. To determine the relationship between transcriptome evolution and morphological divergences among nematodes, we compared 48 transcriptomes of different developmental stages across eight nematode species. The transcriptomes were clustered broadly into embryo, larva, and adult stages, with the developmental plastic stages were separated from common larval stages within the larval branch. This suggests that development was the major determining factor after lifestyle changes, such as parasitism, during transcriptome evolution. Such patt

SUBMITTER: Lu MR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7353954 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature