Journal article
Intestinal transcriptomes of nematodes: comparison of the parasites Ascaris suum and Haemonchus contortus with the free-living Caenorhabditis elegans
PLoS neglected tropical diseases, Vol.2(8), pp.e269-e269
08/06/2008
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/110237
PMCID: PMC2483350
PMID: 18682827
Abstract
The nematode intestine is a major organ responsible for nutrient digestion and absorption; it is also involved in many other processes, such as reproduction, innate immunity, stress responses, and aging. The importance of the intestine as a target for the control of parasitic nematodes has been demonstrated. However, the lack of detailed knowledge on the molecular and cellular functions of the intestine and the level of its conservation across nematodes has impeded breakthroughs in this application.
As part of an extensive effort to investigate various transcribed genomes from Ascaris suum and Haemonchus contortus, we generated a large collection of intestinal sequences from parasitic nematodes by identifying 3,121 A. suum and 1,755 H. contortus genes expressed in the adult intestine through the generation of expressed sequence tags. Cross-species comparisons to the intestine of the free-living C. elegans revealed substantial diversification in the adult intestinal transcriptomes among these species, suggesting lineage- or species-specific adaptations during nematode evolution. In contrast, significant conservation of the intestinal gene repertories was also evident, despite the evolutionary distance of approximately 350 million years separating them. A group of 241 intestinal protein families (IntFam-241), each containing members from all three species, was identified based on sequence similarities. These conserved proteins accounted for approximately 20% of the sampled intestinal transcriptomes from the three nematodes and are proposed to represent conserved core functions in the nematode intestine. Functional characterizations of the IntFam-241 suggested important roles in molecular functions such as protein kinases and proteases, and biological pathways of carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, and translation. Conservation in the core protein families was further explored by extrapolating observable RNA interference phenotypes in C. elegans to their parasitic counterparts.
Our study has provided novel insights into the nematode intestine and lays foundations for further comparative studies on biology, parasitism, and evolution within the phylum Nematoda.
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Details
- Title
- Intestinal transcriptomes of nematodes: comparison of the parasites Ascaris suum and Haemonchus contortus with the free-living Caenorhabditis elegans
- Creators
- Yong Yin - Genome Sequencing Center, Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America. yyin@watson.wustl.eduJohn MartinSahar AbubuckerAlan L ScottJames P McCarterRichard K WilsonDouglas P JasmerMakedonka Mitreva
- Publication Details
- PLoS neglected tropical diseases, Vol.2(8), pp.e269-e269
- Academic Unit
- Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Department of
- Publisher
- United States
- Grant note
- U01 AI046593 / NIAID NIH HHS AI 46593 / NIAID NIH HHS
- Identifiers
- 99900546922301842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article