Single_cell_transcriptomics_reveals_expression_profiles_of_Trypanosoma_brucei_sexual_stages-sc-6641
Single_cell_transcriptomics_reveals_expression_profiles_of_Trypanosoma_brucei_sexual_stages
T. brucei Smart-seq2 single-cell transcriptomic data from tsetse midgut, proventriculus and salivary glands collected in collaboration with Wendy Gibson at University of Bristol. This data is part of a pre-publication release. For information on the proper use of pre-publication data shared by the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute (including details of any publication moratoria), please see http://www.sanger.ac.uk/datasharing/
Early diverging lineages such as trypanosomes can provide clues to the evolution of sexual reproduction in eukaryotes. In Trypanosoma brucei, the pathogen that causes Human African Trypanosomiasis, sexual reproduction occurs during the part of the parasiteâ€™s life cycle in the salivary glands of the insect host, but analysis of the molecular signatures that define these sexual forms is complicated because they mingle with more numerous, mitotically-dividing developmental stages. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNAseq) to profile 388 individual trypanosomes from midgut, proventriculus, and salivary glands of infected tsetse flies allowing us to identify tissue-specific cell types. Further investigation of salivary gland parasite transcriptomes revealed fine-scale changes in gene expression over a developmental progression from putative sexual forms through metacyclics expressing variant surface glycoprotein genes via attached epimastigotes. The cluster of cells potentially containing sexual forms was characterized by high expression of the gamete fusion protein HAP2, together with an array of surface proteins and several genes of unknown function. We linked these expression patterns to distinct morphological forms using immunofluorescence assays and reporter gene expression to demonstrate that the kinetoplastid-conserved gene Tb927.10.12080 is exclusively expressed at high levels by meiotic intermediates and gametes. We speculate that this protein, currently of unknown function, plays a role in gamete formation and/or fusion