Comparative Transcriptome Analyses of the Developmental Stages of Taenia multiceps.

Wen-Hui Li,Baoquan Fu,Yang Yang,Hong-Bin Yan,Wan-Zhong Jia,Nian-Zhang Zhang,Li Li,Yin-Ju Liu,Jian-Kui Wang

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.677045

Abstract

Cerebral coenurosis, caused by the larvae of Taenia multiceps (Coenurus cerebralis), is a fatal central nervous system disease in sheep and other herbivores and occasionally humans. Comparative transcriptomic profiles of the developmental stages of the parasite remain unknown. In this study, RNA sequencing was used to determine the transcriptome profiles of different stages of the life cycle of T. multiceps, including Oncosphere, Coenurus cerebralis (Pro with Cyst), and Adult (Adu), as well as scolex-neck proglottids (Snp), immature–mature proglottids (Imp), and gravid proglottids (Grp) of the adult stage. A total of 42.6 Gb (average 6.1 Gb) Illumina pair-end reads with a 125-bp read length were generated for seven samples. The total number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the various life stages ranged from 2,577 to 3,879; however, for the tissues of the adult worm, the range was from 1,229 to 1,939. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis showed that the DEGs mainly participated in cellular and metabolic processes, binding and catalytic activity, genetic information processing, and environmental information processing. In addition, a large number of genes related to development and parasite–host interaction were identified. Quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction confirmed that the levels of 28 selected DEGs were consistent with those determined using RNA sequencing. The present study provides insights into the mechanisms of the development and parasitic life of T. multiceps.

Highlights

Taenia multiceps is a tapeworm that inhabits the small intestine of dogs and other canids
The biology of cestodes is unique in many aspects, especially regarding their unique development, which is difficult to compare to that of other organisms
Our study revealed that fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) was upregulated in protoscoleces and the cyst wall

Summary

Introduction

Taenia multiceps is a tapeworm that inhabits the small intestine of dogs and other canids. The larval stage (known as Coenurus cerebralis) with a fluid-filled cyst is usually found in the nervous system of the intermediate host and often causes encephalitis and neurological symptoms in infected hosts, and sometimes even death [1, 2]. The life cycle of T. multiceps is completed after the scoleces contained within the coenurus are ingested by the definitive host. Comparative transcriptomic analysis can identify key genes associated with the development, structure, and storage of carbohydrates, thereby contributing to the understanding of the biology of organisms [19,20,21]. Comparative transcriptome analyses of the developmental stages of T. multiceps were performed to obtain important insights into the molecular basis of biological processes involved in worm development and reproduction

Methods

Results

Conclusion