Gene expression patterns during adaptation of a helminth parasite to different environmental niches.
BACKGROUND
Schistosome bloodflukes are complex trematodes responsible for 200 million cases of schistosomiasis worldwide. Their life cycle is characterized by a series of remarkable morphological and biochemical transitions between an invertebrate host, an aquatic environment, and a mammalian host. We report a global transcriptional analysis of how this parasite alters gene regulation to adapt to three distinct environments.


RESULTS
Utilizing a genomic microarray made of 12,000 45-50-mer oligonucleotides based on expressed sequence tags, three different developmental stages of the schistosome parasite were analyzed by pair-wise comparisons of transcript hybridization signals. This analysis resulted in the identification of 1,154 developmentally enriched transcripts.


CONCLUSIONS
This study expands the repertoire of schistosome genes analyzed for stage-specific expression to over 70% of the predicted genome. Among the new associations identified are the roles of robust protein synthesis and programmed cell death in development of cercariae in the sporocyst stages, the relative paucity of cercarial gene expression outside of energy production, and the remarkable diversity of adult gene expression programs that reflect adaptation to the host bloodstream and an average lifespan that may approach 10 years.
Jolly
Emmitt R
ER
California Institute for Quantitative Biomedical Research (QB3) of the University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158 USA. emmitt.jolly@ucsf.edu
Chin
Chen-Shan
CS
Miller
Steve
S
Bahgat
Mahmoud M
MM
Lim
K C
KC
DeRisi
Joseph
J
McKerrow
James H
JH
D000064:Acclimatization / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D008018:Life Cycle Stages / Q000235:genetics; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism
D012333:RNA, Messenger