Schistosoma mansoni: DNA microarray gene expression profiling during the miracidium-to-mother sporocyst transformation

Jon J Vermeire, Andrew S Taft, Karl F Hoffmann, Jennifer M Fitzpatrick, Timothy P Yoshino

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

For the human blood fluke, Schistosoma mansoni, the developmental period that constitutes the transition from miracidium to sporocyst within the molluscan host involves major alterations in morphology and physiology. Although the genetic basis for this transformation process is not well understood, it is likely to be accompanied by changes in gene expression. In an effort to reveal genes involved in this process, we performed a DNA microarray analysis of expressed mRNAs between miracidial and 4 d old in vitro-cultured mother sporocyst stages of S. mansoni. Fluorescently labeled, dsDNA targets were synthesized from miracidia and sporocyst total RNA and hybridized to oligonucleotide DNA microarrays containing 7335 S. mansoni sequences. Fluorescence intensity ratios were statistically compared between five biologically replicated experiments to identify particular transcripts that displayed stage-associated expression within miracidial and sporocyst mRNA populations. A total of 361 sequences showed stage-associated expression in miracidia, while 273 probes displayed sporocyst-associated expression. Differentially expressed mRNAs were annotated with gene ontology terminology based on BLAST homology using high throughput gene ontology functional annotation toolkit (HT-GO-FAT) and clustered using the GOblet GO browser software. A subset of genes displaying stage-associated expression by microarray analyses was verified utilizing real-time quantitative PCR. The use of DNA microarrays for the profiling of gene expression in early-developing S. mansoni larvae provides a starting point for expanding our understanding of the genes that may be involved in the establishment of parasitism and maintenance of infection in these important life cycle stages.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)39-47
Number of pages9
JournalMolecular and Biochemical Parasitology
Volume147
Issue number1
Early online date02 Feb 2006
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - May 2006

Keywords

  • schistosoma mansoni
  • miracidia
  • mother sporocyst
  • real-time quantitative PCR
  • oligonucleotide DNA microarray

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