title: Transcriptomic responses of water buffalo liver to infection with the digenetic fluke Fasciola gigantica.
abstract: Fasciola gigantica, the tropical liver fluke, infects buffaloes in Asian and African countries and causes significant economic losses and poses public health threat in these countries. However, little is known of the transcriptional response of buffaloes to infection with F. gigantica. The objective of the present study was to perform the first transcriptomic analysis of buffalo liver infected by F. gigantica. Understanding the mechanisms that underpin F. gigantica infection in buffaloes will contribute to our ability to control this parasite.
  
  
  
  We challenged buffaloes with 500 viable F. gigantica metacercariae and collected liver samples through a time course at 3, 42 and 70 days post-infection (dpi). Then, we performed gene expression analysis on liver samples using RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) Illumina technology and confirmed the RNA-Seq data by quantitative RT-PCR analysis.
  
  
  
  Totals of 496, 880 and 441 differentially expressed transcripts were identified in the infected livers at 3, 42 and 70 dpi, respectively. Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that transcriptional changes in the liver of infected buffaloes evolve over the course of infection. The predominant response of buffaloes to infection was mediated by certain pathways, such as MHC antigen processing and presentation, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), and the cytochrome P450. Hepatic drug metabolizing enzymes and bile secretion were also affected.
  
  
  
  Fasciola gigantica can induce statistically significant and biologically plausible differences in the hepatic gene expression of infected buffaloes. These findings provide new insights into the response of buffaloes to F. gigantica over the course of infection, which may be useful in determining pathways that can modulate host-parasite interaction and thus potentially important for clearance of the parasite.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Fu-Kai
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Xuan
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine and Science, University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, LE12 5RD, UK.
authors.forename: Hany M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Elsheikha
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jun-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 530005, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhao-An
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wen-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian-Gang
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, 530005, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei-Yi
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China. guoaijiang@caas.cn.
authors.forename: Ai-Jiang
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province, 730046, People's Republic of China. xingquanzhu1@hotmail.com.|Jiangsu Co-innovation Center for Prevention and Control of Important Animal Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, 225009, People's Republic of China. xingquanzhu1@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Xing-Quan
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002020:Buffaloes / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D002417:Cattle; D002418:Cattle Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D005210:Fasciola hepatica / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005211:Fascioliasis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D059467:Transcriptome
keywords: Fasciola gigantica; Immunomodulation; RNA-sequencing; Transcriptome; Water buffalo