Project description:Prymnesium parvum is regarded as one of the most notorious harmful algal bloom (HAB) species worldwide. In recent years, it has frequently formed toxic blooms in coastal and brackish waters of America, Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia, causing large-scale mortalities of wild and cultured fish and other gill-breathing animals. In the last decade, blooms of P. parvum have expanded to inland fresh waters in the USA, presumably due to changes in environmental conditions. The aim of the experiment was to establish the gill transcriptomic responses to P. parvum in rainbow trout. We used 2 different concentrations of P. parvum and identified fish with low and moderate responses to the algae. Based on the dose of and the fish response, fish were classified into 4 groups with high exposure/moderate response (HM), high exposure/low response (HL), low exposure/low response (LL) and control group (C) with no exposure/no response. Gene expression profiling of the gill tissue was performed using a microarray platform developed and validated for rainbow trout.
Project description:<p>Harmful algal blooms (HABs) of the toxic haptophyte <em>Prymnesium parvum</em> are a recurrent problem in many inland and estuarine waters around the world. Strains of <em>P. parvum</em> vary in the toxins they produce and in other physiological traits associated with HABs, but the genetic basis for this variation is unknown. To investigate genome diversity in this morphospecies, we generated genome assemblies for 15 phylogenetically and geographically diverse strains of <em>P. parvum</em> including Hi-C guided, near-chromosome level assemblies for 2 strains. Comparative analysis revealed considerable DNA content variation between strains, ranging from 115 to 845 Mbp. Strains included haploids, diploids and polyploids, but not all differences in DNA content were due to variation in genome copy number. Haploid genome size between strains of different chemotypes differed by as much as 243 Mbp. Syntenic and phylogenetic analyses indicate that UTEX 2797, a common laboratory strain from Texas, is a hybrid that retains 2 phylogenetically distinct haplotypes. Investigation of gene families variably present across strains identified several functional categories associated with metabolic and genome size variation in <em>P. parvum</em> including genes for the biosynthesis of toxic metabolites and proliferation of transposable elements. Together, our results indicate that <em>P. parvum</em> is comprised of multiple cryptic species. These genomes provide a robust phylogenetic and genomic framework for investigations into the eco-physiological consequences of the intra- and inter-specific genetic variation present in <em>P. parvum</em> and demonstrate the need for similar resources for other HAB-forming morphospecies.</p>
Project description:Cryptosporidium parvum is an important opportunistic parasite pathogen for immunocompromised individuals and a common cause of diarrhea in young children in developing countries. Infection by this parasite causes significant alterations in the gene expression profiles in infected host cells. This study aims to measure the genomic wide alterations in gene expression profiles in host intestinal epithelial cells following C. parvum infection. Mouse intestinal epithelial (IEC4.1) cells were grown to 80% confluence and exposed to C. parvum infection for 24h. Total RNA was collected for the genome-wide analysis. The Agilent SurePrint G3 mouse Gene Expression Microarray (G4852A) was used for the genome-wide analysis, which provides full coverage of genes and transcripts with the most up-to-date content, including mRNAs and lincRNAs (http://www.chem.agilent.com/store/en_US/Prod-G4852A/G4852A).
Project description:To investigate whether C. parvum treatment of DCs regulates other inflammatory genes, mouse BMDCs (CD11c and CD11b positive) were treated with C. parvum for 24 hr. Control groups included untreated BMDCs and DCs treated with E. cuniculi. We noticed that a significant upregulation of the expression of interferon-related genes, which may correlation the critical role of interferon in host defense against C. parvum infection. DCs were treated with C. parvum for 24 hr. Control groups included untreated BMDCs and DCs treated with E. cuniculi. Group comparison was performed using the data of 3 replicate arrays from each time point.