The gene expression and the activity of enzyme synthesis of trehalose during development of Ascaris suum (Nematoda) eggs

Abstract

The activity of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (TPS) and trehalose-6-phosphate phosphatase (TPP) and their mRNA expression was determined in Ascaris suum eggs developing from a zygote to invasive larvae in an in vitro culture. The stages of nematode embryonic development, i.e. cleavage, gastrulation and formation of larvae, were always accompanied by an increase in TPS activity. An increase in TPP activity, the second enzyme of the analysed pathway, followed in subsequent developmental stages. Key changes in trehalose metabolism were observed in the tadpole stage. The development of moving larvae was accompanied by the highest mRNA expression and activity level of TPP, which converts metabolic intermediate T6P to trehalose. The trehalose synthesis enzymes activity was positively correlated with their mRNA expression. For three genes: tps1, tps2 (TPS coding) and tpp (TPP coding) there was very strong and statistically significant correlation with the activity of a specific enzyme. The Pearson’s coefficient was r = 0.903714 (p < 0.001) for tps1 gene, r = 0.803012 ( < 0.01) for tps2 and r = 0.856244 (p < 0.01) for tpp over development time.