Sex-biased expression of microRNAs in Schistosoma mansoni.
Sex-biased expression of microRNAs in Schistosoma mansoni.
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DOI：
10.1371/journal.pntd.0002402
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发表时间：
2013
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Ronshaugen M
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Marco A;Kozomara A;Hui JH;Emery AM;Rollinson D;Griffiths-Jones S;Ronshaugen M
Schistosomiasis is an important neglected tropical disease caused by digenean helminth parasites of the genus Schistosoma. Schistosomes are unusual in that they are dioecious and the adult worms live in the blood system. MicroRNAs play crucial roles during gene regulation and are likely to be important in sex differentiation in dioecious species. Here we characterize 112 microRNAs from adult Schistosoma mansoni individuals, including 84 novel microRNA families, and investigate the expression pattern in different sexes. By deep sequencing, we measured the relative expression levels of conserved and newly identified microRNAs between male and female samples. We observed that 13 microRNAs exhibited sex-biased expression, 10 of which are more abundant in females than in males. Sex chromosomes showed a paucity of female-biased genes, as predicted by theoretical evolutionary models. We propose that the recent emergence of separate sexes in Schistosoma had an effect on the chromosomal distribution and evolution of microRNAs, and that microRNAs are likely to participate in the sex differentiation/maintenance process. Schistosomiasis is the second most common disease caused by a parasite, affecting over 200 million people. The parasites involved are flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. Unlike most non-parasitic flatworms, Schistosoma species have separate sexes, and the emergence of sex has been associated with the development of a parasitic lifestyle. The identification of gene products that are expressed in a sex-biased fashion permits the study of the origin of sexual dimorphism and, in the case of the schistosomes, the evolution of a human parasite. Here we investigated the differential expression of microRNAs in male and female individuals of the species Schistosoma mansoni. MicroRNAs are crucial gene regulators. We observed that many new microRNAs emerged in the evolutionary lineage leading to the schistosomes. However, many sex-biased microRNAs were present in the hermaphrodite ancestor of the flatworms, and therefore acquired sex-biased expression later on. Our results suggest that changes in microRNA expression patterns were associated with the emergence of separate sexes in the schistosomes.
