title: Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis of Sex-Biased Expressed Genes Reveals Discrete Biological and Physiological Features of Male and Female Schistosoma japonicum.
abstract: Schistosomiasis is a chronic and debilitating disease caused by blood flukes (digenetic trematodes) of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomes are sexually dimorphic and exhibit dramatic morphological changes during a complex lifecycle which requires subtle gene regulatory mechanisms to fulfil these complex biological processes. In the current study, a 41,982 features custom DNA microarray, which represents the most comprehensive probe coverage for any schistosome transcriptome study, was designed based on public domain and local databases to explore differential gene expression in S. japonicum. We found that approximately 1/10 of the total annotated genes in the S. japonicum genome are differentially expressed between adult males and females. In general, genes associated with the cytoskeleton, and motor and neuronal activities were readily expressed in male adult worms, whereas genes involved in amino acid metabolism, nucleotide biosynthesis, gluconeogenesis, glycosylation, cell cycle processes, DNA synthesis and genome fidelity and stability were enriched in females. Further, miRNAs target sites within these gene sets were predicted, which provides a scenario whereby the miRNAs potentially regulate these sex-biased expressed genes. The study significantly expands the expressional and regulatory characteristics of gender-biased expressed genes in schistosomes with high accuracy. The data provide a better appreciation of the biological and physiological features of male and female schistosome parasites, which may lead to novel vaccine targets and the development of new therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.|Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xianyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.affiliation: MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Geoffrey N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Gobert
authors.affiliation: Molecular Parasitology Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Donald P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: McManus
authors.affiliation: MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China.|Key Laboratory of Zoonosis, Shenyang Agriculture University, Shenyang, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qijun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs