Project description:Chinese and Philippine strains of the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum present clear and distinctive phenotypes in areas of fecundity, pathology, drug sensitivity and immunology. Despite these differences large scale sequencing efforts have focused solely on Chinese mainland strain of the parasite. We have undertaken a comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) approach to highlight some of the structural differences in the genome of two of the major geographical isolates of S. japonicum. We identified seven distinct regions of the S. japonicum genome that present differential CGH between Chinese and Philippine strains of the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum, representing either deletion or duplication regions in the Philippine strain. Within these regions, genes that may be related to phenotypical differences are identified and discussed.
Project description:Chinese and Philippine strains of the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum present clear and distinctive phenotypes in areas of fecundity, pathology, drug sensitivity and immunology. Despite these differences large scale sequencing efforts have focused solely on Chinese mainland strain of the parasite. We have undertaken a comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) approach to highlight some of the structural differences in the genome of two of the major geographical isolates of S. japonicum. We identified seven distinct regions of the S. japonicum genome that present differential CGH between Chinese and Philippine strains of the blood fluke Schistosoma japonicum, representing either deletion or duplication regions in the Philippine strain. Within these regions, genes that may be related to phenotypical differences are identified and discussed. Genomic DNA was isolated from adult (7 week post cercarial challenge) Schistosoma japonicum Chinese and Philippine isolates and separate maleand femalesamples comparatively hybridised on an Agilent customn designed oligo microarray.
Project description:Schistosoma mansoni is the causative agent of schistosomiasis, an endemic neglected tropical disease that affects the human population. Recently, newer versions of the genome and transcriptome have been published, with the Sanger Institute leading both the original publication of the genome as well as the further upgrade. However, little is known about the regulatory elements found in the genome, i.e. promoters. Identification of these elements is key for the understanding of mechanisms of regulation of gene expression in this parasitic helminth.
