Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis of Sex-Biased Expressed Genes Reveals Discrete Biological and Physiological Features of Male and Female Schistosoma japonicum

PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2016 Apr 29;10(4):e0004684. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004684. eCollection 2016 Apr.

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.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling*
  • Gene Regulatory Networks
  • Male
  • MicroRNAs / genetics
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Schistosoma japonicum / genetics*
  • Schistosoma japonicum / physiology
  • Sex Characteristics
  • Sex Factors

Substances

  • MicroRNAs

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81270026), the National S & T Major Program (Grant No. 2012ZX10004-220), the Special Fund for Health Research in the Public Interest (Grant No. 201202019), and the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University (IRT13007). DPM is a NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow and Senior Scientist at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.