title: Transcriptional and phenotypical heterogeneity of Trypanosoma cruzi cell populations.
abstract: Trypanosoma cruzi has a complex life cycle comprising pools of cell populations which circulate among humans, vectors, sylvatic reservoirs and domestic animals. Recent experimental evidence has demonstrated the importance of clonal variations for parasite population dynamics, survival and evolution. By limiting dilution assays, we have isolated seven isogenic clonal cell lines derived from the Pan4 strain of T. cruzi. Applying different molecular techniques, we have been able to provide a comprehensive characterization of the expression heterogeneity in the mucin-associated surface protein (MASP) gene family, where all the clonal isogenic populations were transcriptionally different. Hierarchical cluster analysis and sequence comparison among different MASP cDNA libraries showed that, despite the great variability in MASP expression, some members of the transcriptome (including MASP pseudogenes) are conserved, not only in the life-cycle stages but also among different strains of T. cruzi. Finally, other important aspects for the parasite, such as growth, spontaneous metacyclogenesis or excretion of different catabolites, were also compared among the clones, demonstrating that T. cruzi populations of cells are also phenotypically heterogeneous. Although the evolutionary strategy that sustains the MASP expression polymorphism remains unknown, we suggest that MASP clonal variability and phenotypic heterogeneities found in this study might provide an advantage, allowing a rapid response to environmental pressure or changes during the life cycle of T. cruzi.
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Molecular Parasitology Research Group, Department of Parasitology, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain vsecoh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Seco-Hidalgo
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Molecular Parasitology Research Group, Department of Parasitology, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain Centre for Immunology and Infection (CII), Biology Department, University of York, York, UK luis.depablostorro@york.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Luis Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: De Pablos
authors.affiliation: Biochemistry and Molecular Parasitology Research Group, Department of Parasitology, University of Granada, Campus de Fuentenueva, Granada, Spain aosuna@ugr.es.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osuna
mesh_terms: D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014349:Trypanosoma cruzi / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
keywords: RNA; gene expression; kinetoplastid; mucin-associated surface protein; protozoan