title: Global gene expression analysis of the zoonotic parasite Trichinella spiralis revealed novel genes in host parasite interaction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Trichinellosis is a typical food-borne zoonotic disease which is epidemic worldwide and the nematode Trichinella spiralis is the main pathogen. The life cycle of T. spiralis contains three developmental stages, i.e. adult worms, new borne larva (new borne L1 larva) and muscular larva (infective L1 larva). Stage-specific gene expression in the parasites has been investigated with various immunological and cDNA cloning approaches, whereas the genome-wide transcriptome and expression features of the parasite have been largely unknown. The availability of the genome sequence information of T. spiralis has made it possible to deeply dissect parasite biology in association with global gene expression and pathogenesis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, we analyzed the global gene expression patterns in the three developmental stages of T. spiralis using digital gene expression (DGE) analysis. Almost 15 million sequence tags were generated with the Illumina RNA-seq technology, producing expression data for more than 9,000 genes, covering 65% of the genome. The transcriptome analysis revealed thousands of differentially expressed genes within the genome, and importantly, a panel of genes encoding functional proteins associated with parasite invasion and immuno-modulation were identified. More than 45% of the genes were found to be transcribed from both strands, indicating the importance of RNA-mediated gene regulation in the development of the parasite. Further, based on gene ontological analysis, over 3000 genes were functionally categorized and biological pathways in the three life cycle stage were elucidated.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The global transcriptome of T. spiralis in three developmental stages has been profiled, and most gene activity in the genome was found to be developmentally regulated. Many metabolic and biological pathways have been revealed. The findings of the differential expression of several protein families facilitate understanding of the molecular mechanisms of parasite biology and the pathological aspects of trichinellosis.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University, Changchun, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaolei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yanxia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Ning
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Jielin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Huijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Zhiguang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Yizhi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Jigang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Mingyuan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020224:Expressed Sequence Tags; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D009132:Muscles / Q000469:parasitology; D051381:Rats; D017160:Trichinella spiralis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors