Project description:<h4>Background</h4>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) constitute a class of single-stranded RNAs which play a crucial role in regulating development and controlling gene expression by targeting mRNAs and triggering either translation repression or messenger RNA (mRNA) degradation. miRNAs are widespread in eukaryotes and to date over 14,000 miRNAs have been identified by computational and experimental approaches. Several miRNAs are highly conserved across species. In Schistosoma, the full set of miRNAs and their expression patterns during development remain poorly understood. Here we report on the development and implementation of a homology-based detection strategy to search for miRNA genes in Schistosoma mansoni. In addition, we report results on the experimental detection of miRNAs by means of cDNA cloning and sequencing of size-fractionated RNA samples.<h4>Results</h4>Homology search using the high-throughput pipeline was performed with all known miRNAs in miRBase. A total of 6,211 mature miRNAs were used as reference sequences and 110 unique S. mansoni sequences were returned by BLASTn analysis. The existing mature miRNAs that produced these hits are reported, as well as the locations of the homologous sequences in the S. mansoni genome. All BLAST hits aligned with at least 95% of the miRNA sequence, resulting in alignment lengths of 19-24 nt. Following several filtering steps, 15 potential miRNA candidates were identified using this approach. By sequencing small RNA cDNA libraries from adult worm pairs, we identified 211 novel miRNA candidates in the S. mansoni genome. Northern blot analysis was used to detect the expression of the 30 most frequent sequenced miRNAs and to compare the expression level of these miRNAs between the lung stage schistosomula and adult worm stages. Expression of 11 novel miRNAs was confirmed by northern blot analysis and some presented a stage-regulated expression pattern. Three miRNAs previously identified from S. japonicum were also present in S. mansoni.<h4>Conclusion</h4>Evidence for the presence of miRNAs in S. mansoni is presented. The number of miRNAs detected by homology-based computational methods in S. mansoni is limited due to the lack of close relatives in the miRNA repository. In spite of this, the computational approach described here can likely be applied to the identification of pre-miRNA hairpins in other organisms. Construction and analysis of a small RNA library led to the experimental identification of 14 novel miRNAs from S. mansoni through a combination of molecular cloning, DNA sequencing and expression studies. Our results significantly expand the set of known miRNAs in multicellular parasites and provide a basis for understanding the structural and functional evolution of miRNAs in these metazoan parasites.
Project description:BACKGROUND: While considerable genomic and transcriptomic data are available for Schistosoma mansoni, many of its genes lack significant annotation. A transcriptomic study of individual tissues and organs of schistosomes could play an important role in functional annotation of the unknown genes, particularly by providing rapid localisation data and thus giving insight into the potential roles of these molecules in parasite development, reproduction and homeostasis, and in the complex host-parasite interaction. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Quantification of gene expression in tissues of S. mansoni was achieved by a combination of laser microdissection microscopy (LMM) and oligonucleotide microarray analysis. We compared the gene expression profile of the adult female gastrodermis and male and female reproductive tissues with whole worm controls. The results revealed a total of 393 genes (contigs) that were up-regulated two-fold or more in the gastrodermis, 4,450 in the ovary, 384 in the vitelline tissues of female parasites, and 2,171 in the testes. We have also supplemented these data with the identification of highly expressed genes in different regions of manually dissected male and female S. mansoni. Though relatively crude, this dissection strategy provides low resolution localisation data for critical regions of the adult parasites that are not amenable to LMM isolation. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first detailed transcriptomic study of the reproductive tissues and gastrodermis of S. mansoni. The results obtained will help direct future research on the functional aspects of these tissues, expediting the characterisation of currently unannotated gene products of S. mansoni and the discovery of new drug and vaccine targets.
Project description:Members of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) subfamily of cytokines control many aspects of metazoan development including patterning and organogenesis. Despite the recognition that schistosomes possess key components of a BMP signaling pathway, a BMP-like ligand in the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni remained elusive. Here, we describe the cloning and characterisation of an S. mansoni BMP (SmBMP). SmBMP is most closely related to BMP homologues from the free-living flatworms Schmidtea mediterranea and Dugesia japonica, with 51% and 47% identity at the amino acid level, respectively. Based on reverse transcription-PCR, SmBMP is expressed throughout the mammalian life-cycle of the parasite in both male and female schistosomes. In support of these results, antibodies to SmBMP successfully immunoprecipitated the protein in adult male and female antigen preparations with more protein detected in male parasites. Immunofluorescent studies localised SmBMP to the protonephridia of adult parasites, and SmBMP was identified in the excretory/secretory products of adult male parasites via immunoprecipitation. With the previous description of a TGF-beta subfamily homologue in S. mansoni, ligands representing both arms of the TGF-beta superfamily have now been described in this trematode.
Project description:Schistosomiasis is frequently detected in persons entering Europe. In 2017, we detected a Schistosoma mansoni-Schistosoma haematobium hybrid parasite infection in a migrant boy from Côte d'Ivoire entering France. Because such parasites might be established in Europe, as illustrated by an outbreak on Corsica Island, vectors of these parasites should be investigated.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of TGF-beta treated Schistosoma mansoni adult worms vs. Non-treated Schistosoma mansoni adult worms Two conditions (treated vs. Non-treated) with three biological samples of treated worms (TGF1, 4 and 5) and two biological samples of non-treated worms that were pooled into a single sample (pool). For each sample (three treated or polled non-treated) were performed four technical replicas
Project description:Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are transcripts generally longer than 200 nucleotides with no or poor protein coding potential, and most of their functions are also poorly characterized. Recently, an increasing number of studies have shown that lncRNAs can be involved in various critical biological processes such as organism development or cancer progression. Little, however, is known about their effects in helminths parasites, such as Schistosoma mansoni. Here, we present a computational pipeline to identify and characterize lncRNAs from RNA-seq data with high confidence from S. mansoni adult worms. Through the utilization of different criteria such as genome localization, exon number, gene length, and stability, we identified 170 new putative lncRNAs. All novel S. mansoni lncRNAs have no conserved synteny including human and mouse. These closest protein coding genes were enriched in 10 significant Gene Ontology terms related to metabolism, transport, and biosynthesis. Fifteen putative lncRNAs showed differential expression, and three displayed sex-specific differential expressions in praziquantel sensitive and resistant adult worm couples. Together, our method can predict a set of novel lncRNAs from the RNA-seq data. Some lncRNAs are shown to be differentially expressed suggesting that those novel lncRNAs can be given high priority in further functional studies focused on praziquantel resistance.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of TGF-beta treated Schistosoma mansoni adult worms vs. Non-treated Schistosoma mansoni adult worms Overall design: Two conditions (treated vs. Non-treated) with three biological samples of treated worms (TGF1, 4 and 5) and two biological samples of non-treated worms that were pooled into a single sample (pool). For each sample (three treated or polled non-treated) were performed four technical replicas
Project description:Schistosomiasis is an important neglected tropical disease caused by digenean helminth parasites of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomes are unusual in that they are dioecious and the adult worms live in the blood system. MicroRNAs play crucial roles during gene regulation and are likely to be important in sex differentiation in dioecious species. Here we characterize 112 microRNAs from adult Schistosoma mansoni individuals, including 84 novel microRNA families, and investigate the expression pattern in different sexes. By deep sequencing, we measured the relative expression levels of conserved and newly identified microRNAs between male and female samples. We observed that 13 microRNAs exhibited sex-biased expression, 10 of which are more abundant in females than in males. Sex chromosomes showed a paucity of female-biased genes, as predicted by theoretical evolutionary models. We propose that the recent emergence of separate sexes in Schistosoma had an effect on the chromosomal distribution and evolution of microRNAs, and that microRNAs are likely to participate in the sex differentiation/maintenance process.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Parasitic helminths of the genus Schistosoma mate, achieve sexual maturity and produce eggs in the bloodstream of their definitive hosts, and the most important pathological consequences of the infection are associated with this process. We have used cDNA microarray technology to initiate genome-wide gene-expression studies of sex and sexual development in mature Schistosoma mansoni parasites. RESULTS:An S. mansoni-specific cDNA microarray was fabricated using 576 expressed sequence tags selected from three cDNA libraries and originating from two different parasite developmental stages. Five independent cDNA microarray hybridizations were analyzed using stringent filtering criteria and careful quality control, leading to the identification of 12 new female-associated and 4 new male-associated gene transcripts in the mature adult schistosome. Statistical analysis of variation demonstrated high levels of agreement within a cDNA microarray (correlation coefficient 0.91; median coefficient of variation 11.1%) and between cDNA microarrays (correlation coefficient 0.90; median coefficient of variation 14.4%). RT-PCR analysis confirmed the cDNA microarray results, thereby supporting the reliability of the system. CONCLUSIONS:Our study expands the list of S. mansoni gender-associated gene transcripts from all previous studies by a factor of two. Among the new associations identified, a tyrosinase ortholog was preferentially expressed in the adult female, and a dynein light-chain ortholog was highly induced in the adult male. cDNA microarrays offer the potential for exponential leaps in the understanding of parasite biology and this study shows how molecules involved in sexual biology can be rapidly identified.