Identification and localization of a gonadotropin-releasing hormone-related neuropeptide in Biomphalaria, an intermediate host for schistosomiasis.

ABSTRACT: Freshwater snails of the genus Biomphalaria serve as obligatory hosts for the digenetic trematode Schistosoma mansoni, the causative agent for the most widespread form of intestinal schistosomiasis. Within Biomphalaria, S. mansoni larvae multiply and transform into the cercariae form that can infect humans. Trematode development and proliferation is thought to be facilitated by modifications of host behavior and physiological processes, including a reduction of reproduction known as "parasitic castration." As neuropeptides participate in the control of reproduction across phylogeny, a neural transcriptomics approach was undertaken to identify peptides that could regulate Biomphalaria reproductive physiology. The present study identified a transcript in Biomphalaria alexandrina that encodes

SUBMITTER: Rosa-Casillas M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8142820 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature