Regulation of sexual differentiation is linked to invasion in malaria parasites
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
PROVIDER: PRJNA516829 | ENA |
REPOSITORIES: ENA
Dataset's files
| Action | DRS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SRR7903620.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR7903650.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR7903621.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR7903651.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz | |||
| SRR7903622.fastq.gz | Fastqsanger.gz |
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Project description:Single-cell RNA-sequencing is revolutionising our understanding of seemingly homogeneous cell populations but has not yet been widely applied to single-celled organisms. Transcriptional variation in unicellular malaria parasites from the Plasmodium genus is associated with critical phenotypes including red blood cell invasion and immune evasion, yet transcriptional variation at an individual parasite level has not been examined in depth. Here, we describe the adaptation of a single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) protocol to deconvolute transcriptional variation for more than 500 individual parasites of both rodent and human malaria comprising asexual and sexual life-cycle stages. We uncover previously hidden discrete transcriptional signatures during the pathogenic part of the life cycle, suggesting that expression over development is not as continuous as commonly thought. In transmission stages, we find novel, sex-specific roles for differential expression of contingency gene families that are usually associated with immune evasion and pathogenesis.
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Project description:Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites that proliferate through iterative cycles of intra-erythrocytic replication. During each cycle a small number of parasites differentiate into gametocytes, the only forms able to infect the mosquito vector and transmit malaria. Sexual commitment is triggered by activation of AP2-G, the master transcriptional regulator of gametocytogenesis. Heterochromatin protein 1 (HP1)-dependent silencing of ap2-g prevents sexual conversion and secures proliferation. Here, we identify gametocyte development 1 (GDV1) as the first upstream activator of the sexual differentiation pathway in P. falciparum. Induction of GDV1 expression is sufficient to activate AP2-G expression and sexual differentiation. We found that GDV1 targets heterochromatin and triggers HP1 eviction preferentially at ap2-g and other gametocyte-specific genes. We further demonstrate that GDV1-dependent activation of ap2-g is controlled via a gdv1 antisense RNA. In summary, we identify GDV1 as an unprecedented cell fate decision factor that induces sexual differentiation by antagonizing HP1-dependent gene silencing.
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Project description:Like most pathogens, malaria parasites balance persistence in the current host with transmission to the next. For Plasmodium falciparum, the most widespread and virulent human malaria parasite, persistence depends on continuous asexual replication in red blood cells while transmission requires differentiation into non-replicating gametocytes, the male and female cells able to infect the mosquito vector. This developmental decision is controlled via stochastic derepression of a heterochromatin-silenced locus encoding the transcription factor PfAP2-G, which acts as the master switch for sexual differentiation. Recent work showed that the frequency of pfap2-g derepression is responsive to extracellular levels of phospholipid precursors. However, the regulatory mechanisms linking these metabolites to epigenetic regulation of pfap2-g was hitherto unknown. Using chemical, metabolomic, and genetic approaches, we show that this response is mediated by metabolic competition for the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine between histone methyltransferases and phospho-ethanolamine methyltransferase, a critical enzyme in the parasite’s pathway for de novo phosphatidyl-choline synthesis. When phosphatidyl-choline precursors are scarce, increased consumption of S-adenosylmethionine for de novo synthesis of phosphatidyl-choline results in a decrease in histone methylation marks that mediate silencing of pfap2-g, thereby up-regulating its transcription and increasing the frequency of sexual differentiation. Our findings reveal a key connection between metabolite utilization and gene expression in malaria parasites that forms the mechanistic link between phosphatidyl-choline metabolism and the frequency of sexual commitment.
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Project description:Gametocytogenesis, the process by which malaria parasites produce sexual forms that can infect mosquitoes, is essential for the transmission of malaria. A transcriptional switch of the pfap2-g gene triggers sexual commitment, but how the complex multi-step process is precisely programed remains largely unknown. Here, by systematic functional screening of a panel of ApiAP2 transcription factors, we identify six new apiAP2 members associated with gametocytogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum. Among these, PfAP2-G5 (PF3D7_1139300) was found to be indispensable for gametocytogenesis. This factor suppresses the transcriptional activity of the pfap2-g gene via binding to both the upstream region and exonic gene body, the latter is linked to the maintenance of local heterochromatin structure, thereby preventing initiation of sexual commitment. Removal of this repressive effect through pfap2-g5 knockout disrupts the asexual replication cycle and promotes sexual commitment accompanied by upregulation of pfap2-g expression. However, the gametocytes produced fail to mature fully. Further analyses show that PfAP2-G5 is essential for gametocyte maturation, and causes the down-regulation of pfap2-g and a set of early gametocyte genes activated by PfAP2-G prior to gametocyte development. Collectively, our findings reveal a regulation cascade of gametocyte production in malaria parasites, and provide a new target for transmission blocking interventions.
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Project description:Gametocytogenesis, the process by which malaria parasites produce sexual forms that can infect mosquitoes, is essential for the transmission of malaria. A transcriptional switch of the pfap2-g gene triggers sexual commitment, but how the complex multi-step process is precisely programed remains largely unknown. Here, by systematic functional screening of a panel of ApiAP2 transcription factors, we identify six new apiAP2 members associated with gametocytogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum. Among these, PfAP2-G5 (PF3D7_1139300) was found to be indispensable for gametocytogenesis. This factor suppresses the transcriptional activity of the pfap2-g gene via binding to both the upstream region and exonic gene body, the latter is linked to the maintenance of local heterochromatin structure, thereby preventing initiation of sexual commitment. Removal of this repressive effect through pfap2-g5 knockout disrupts the asexual replication cycle and promotes sexual commitment accompanied by upregulation of pfap2-g expression. However, the gametocytes produced fail to mature fully. Further analyses show that PfAP2-G5 is essential for gametocyte maturation, and causes the down-regulation of pfap2-g and a set of early gametocyte genes activated by PfAP2-G prior to gametocyte development. Collectively, our findings reveal a regulation cascade of gametocyte production in malaria parasites, and provide a new target for transmission blocking interventions.
2021-08-03 | GSE149772 | GEO
Project description:Gametocytogenesis, the process by which malaria parasites produce sexual forms that can infect mosquitoes, is essential for the transmission of malaria. A transcriptional switch of the pfap2-g gene triggers sexual commitment, but how the complex multi-step process is precisely programed remains largely unknown. Here, by systematic functional screening of a panel of ApiAP2 transcription factors, we identify six new apiAP2 members associated with gametocytogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum. Among these, PfAP2-G5 (PF3D7_1139300) was found to be indispensable for gametocytogenesis. This factor suppresses the transcriptional activity of the pfap2-g gene via binding to both the upstream region and exonic gene body, the latter is linked to the maintenance of local heterochromatin structure, thereby preventing initiation of sexual commitment. Removal of this repressive effect through pfap2-g5 knockout disrupts the asexual replication cycle and promotes sexual commitment accompanied by upregulation of pfap2-g expression. However, the gametocytes produced fail to mature fully. Further analyses show that PfAP2-G5 is essential for gametocyte maturation, and causes the down-regulation of pfap2-g and a set of early gametocyte genes activated by PfAP2-G prior to gametocyte development. Collectively, our findings reveal a regulation cascade of gametocyte production in malaria parasites, and provide a new target for transmission blocking interventions.
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Project description:Gametocytogenesis, the process by which malaria parasites produce sexual forms that can infect mosquitoes, is essential for the transmission of malaria. A transcriptional switch of the pfap2-g gene triggers sexual commitment, but how the complex multi-step process is precisely programed remains largely unknown. Here, by systematic functional screening of a panel of ApiAP2 transcription factors, we identify six new apiAP2 members associated with gametocytogenesis in Plasmodium falciparum. Among these, PfAP2-G5 (PF3D7_1139300) was found to be indispensable for gametocytogenesis. This factor suppresses the transcriptional activity of the pfap2-g gene via binding to both the upstream region and exonic gene body, the latter is linked to the maintenance of local heterochromatin structure, thereby preventing initiation of sexual commitment. Removal of this repressive effect through pfap2-g5 knockout disrupts the asexual replication cycle and promotes sexual commitment accompanied by upregulation of pfap2-g expression. However, the gametocytes produced fail to mature fully. Further analyses show that PfAP2-G5 is essential for gametocyte maturation, and causes the down-regulation of pfap2-g and a set of early gametocyte genes activated by PfAP2-G prior to gametocyte development. Collectively, our findings reveal a regulation cascade of gametocyte production in malaria parasites, and provide a new target for transmission blocking interventions.
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Project description:5-methylcytosine (m5C) is emerging as an important epi-transcriptome modification involving RNA stability and translation efficiency in various biological processes. However, it remains unclear how m5C contributes to the dynamic regulation of transcriptome during the development of Plasmodium. Here, we identified the presence of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification in rodent (P. yoelii) and human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites transcriptome and depicted a comprehensive characterization landscape of m5C mRNA modification at single-nucleotide resolution (RNA-BisSeq) from asexual replicating stage to gametocyte development. Through transcriptome-wide profiling of mRNA m5C modification, we found that m5C modified mRNA displayed higher stability than non-m5C modified mRNA during the development of Plasmodium. We identified Plasmodium ortholog of NSUN2 as an mRNA m5C methyltransferase in malaria parasites. LC–MS/MS and RNA-BisSeq analysis revealed a large decrease in mRNA m5C modification at transcriptome-wide level upon Nsun2 knockout. Absence of Nsun2 severely reduced gametocyte production in either rodent (P. yoelii) or human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites. Meanwhile, some genes related to gametocytogenesis displayed a great reduction of m5C modification. Together, our data provides comprehensive mRNA m5C profiles in Plasmodium genus and reveals m5C modification-mediated mRNA stability as a novel mechanism regulating sexual differentiation of a unicellular eukaryote.
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Project description:5-methylcytosine (m5C) is emerging as an important epi-transcriptome modification involving RNA stability and translation efficiency in various biological processes. However, it remains unclear how m5C contributes to the dynamic regulation of transcriptome during the development of Plasmodium. Here, we identified the presence of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification in rodent (P. yoelii) and human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites transcriptome and depicted a comprehensive characterization landscape of m5C mRNA modification at single-nucleotide resolution (RNA-BisSeq) from asexual replicating stage to gametocyte development. Through transcriptome-wide profiling of mRNA m5C modification, we found that m5C modified mRNA displayed higher stability than non-m5C modified mRNA during the development of Plasmodium. We identified Plasmodium ortholog of NSUN2 as an mRNA m5C methyltransferase in malaria parasites. LC–MS/MS and RNA-BisSeq analysis revealed a large decrease in mRNA m5C modification at transcriptome-wide level upon Nsun2 knockout. Absence of Nsun2 severely reduced gametocyte production in either rodent (P. yoelii) or human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites. Meanwhile, some genes related to gametocytogenesis displayed a great reduction of m5C modification. Together, our data provides comprehensive mRNA m5C profiles in Plasmodium genus and reveals m5C modification-mediated mRNA stability as a novel mechanism regulating sexual differentiation of a unicellular eukaryote.
2022-02-08 | GSE159125 | GEO
Project description:5-methylcytosine (m5C) is emerging as an important epi-transcriptome modification involving RNA stability and translation efficiency in various biological processes. However, it remains unclear how m5C contributes to the dynamic regulation of transcriptome during the development of Plasmodium. Here, we identified the presence of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) modification in rodent (P. yoelii) and human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites transcriptome and depicted a comprehensive characterization landscape of m5C mRNA modification at single-nucleotide resolution (RNA-BisSeq) from asexual replicating stage to gametocyte development. Through transcriptome-wide profiling of mRNA m5C modification, we found that m5C modified mRNA displayed higher stability than non-m5C modified mRNA during the development of Plasmodium. We identified Plasmodium ortholog of NSUN2 as an mRNA m5C methyltransferase in malaria parasites. LC–MS/MS and RNA-BisSeq analysis revealed a large decrease in mRNA m5C modification at transcriptome-wide level upon Nsun2 knockout. Absence of Nsun2 severely reduced gametocyte production in either rodent (P. yoelii) or human (P. falciparum) malaria parasites. Meanwhile, some genes related to gametocytogenesis displayed a great reduction of m5C modification. Together, our data provides comprehensive mRNA m5C profiles in Plasmodium genus and reveals m5C modification-mediated mRNA stability as a novel mechanism regulating sexual differentiation of a unicellular eukaryote.
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