Adaptations in energy metabolism and gene family expansions revealed by comparative transcriptomics of three Chagas disease triatomine vectors.

BACKGROUND: Chagas disease is a parasitic infection caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. It is an important public health problem affecting around seven to eight million people in the Americas. A large number of hematophagous triatomine insect species, occupying diverse natural and human-modified ecological niches transmit this disease. Triatomines are long-living hemipterans that have evolved to explode different habitats to associate with their vertebrate hosts. Understanding the molecular basis of the extreme physiological conditions including starvation tolerance and longevity could provide insights for developing novel control strategies. We describe the normalized cDNA, full body transcriptome analysis of three main vectors in North, Central and South America, Triatoma pallidipennis, T. dimidiata and T. infestans. RESULTS: Two-thirds of the de novo assembled transcriptomes map to the Rhodnius prolixus genome and proteome. A Triatoma expansion of the calycin family and two types of protease inhibitors, pacifastins and cystatins were identified. A high number of transcriptionally active class I transposable elements was documented in T. infestans, compared with T. dimidiata and T. pallidipennis. Sequence identity in Triatoma-R. prolixus 1:1 orthologs revealed high sequence divergence in four enzymes participating in gluconeogenesis, glycogen synthesis and the pentose phosphate pathway, indicating high evolutionary rates of these genes. Also, molecular evidence suggesting positive selection was found for several genes of the oxidative phosphorylation I, III and V complexes. CONCLUSIONS: Protease inhibitors and calycin-coding gene expansions provide insights into rapidly evolving processes of protease regulation and haematophagy. Higher evolutionary rates in enzymes that exert metabolic flux control towards anabolism and evidence for positive selection in oxidative phosphorylation complexes might represent genetic adaptations, possibly related to prolonged starvation, oxidative stress tolerance, longevity, and hematophagy and flight reduction. Overall, this work generated novel hypothesis related to biological adaptations to extreme physiological conditions and diverse ecological niches that sustain Chagas disease transmission.

Differential Expression of IgM and IgD Discriminates Two Subpopulations of Human Circulating IgM+IgD+CD27+ B Cells That Differ Phenotypically, Functionally, and Genetically.

The origin and function of blood IgM+IgD+CD27+ B cells is controversial, and they are considered a heterogeneous population. Previous staining of circulating B cells of healthy donors with rotavirus fluorescent virus-like particles allowed us to differentiate two subsets of IgM+IgD+CD27+: IgMhi and IgMlo B cells. Here, we confirmed this finding and compared the phenotype, transcriptome, in vitro function, and Ig gene repertoire of these two subsets. Eleven markers phenotypically discriminated both subsets (CD1c, CD69, IL21R, CD27, MTG, CD45RB, CD5, CD184, CD23, BAFFR, and CD38) with the IgMhi phenotypically resembling previously reported marginal zone B cells and the IgMlo resembling both naïve and memory B cells. Transcriptomic analysis showed that both subpopulations clustered close to germinal center-experienced IgM only B cells with a Principal Component Analysis, but differed in expression of 78 genes. Moreover, IgMhi B cells expressed genes characteristic of previously reported marginal zone B cells. After stimulation with CpG and cytokines, significantly (p < 0.05) higher frequencies (62.5%) of IgMhi B cells proliferated, compared with IgMlo B cells (35.37%), and differentiated to antibody secreting cells (14.22% for IgMhi and 7.19% for IgMlo). IgMhi B cells had significantly (p < 0.0007) higher frequencies of mutations in IGHV and IGKV regions, IgMlo B cells had higher usage of IGHJ6 genes (p < 0.0001), and both subsets differed in their HCDR3 properties. IgMhi B cells shared most of their shared IGH clonotypes with IgM only memory B cells, and IgMlo B cells with IgMhi B cells. These results support the notion that differential expression of IgM and IgD discriminates two subpopulations of human circulating IgM+IgD+CD27+ B cells, with the IgMhi B cells having similarities with previously described marginal zone B cells that passed through germinal centers, and the IgMlo B cells being the least differentiated amongst the IgM+CD27+ subsets.