ABSTRACT
This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms15451.
ABSTRACT
Biomphalaria snails are instrumental in transmission of the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni. With the World Health Organization's goal to eliminate schistosomiasis as a global health problem by 2025, there is now renewed emphasis on snail control. Here, we characterize the genome of Biomphalaria glabrata, a lophotrochozoan protostome, and provide timely and important information on snail biology. We describe aspects of phero-perception, stress responses, immune function and regulation of gene expression that support the persistence of B. glabrata in the field and may define this species as a suitable snail host for S. mansoni. We identify several potential targets for developing novel control measures aimed at reducing snail-mediated transmission of schistosomiasis.
Subject(s)
Biomphalaria/genetics , Biomphalaria/parasitology , Genome , Schistosomiasis mansoni/transmission , Animal Communication , Animals , Biomphalaria/immunology , DNA Transposable Elements , Evolution, Molecular , Fresh Water , Gene Expression Regulation , Host-Parasite Interactions , Pheromones , Proteome , Schistosoma mansoni , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Stress, PhysiologicalABSTRACT
Suppressive subtractive hybridization was used to evaluate the differential expression of midgut genes of feral populations of Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae) from Colombia that are naturally refractory or susceptible to Dengue-2 virus infection. A total of 165 differentially expressed sequence tags (ESTs) were identified in the subtracted libraries. The analysis showed a higher number of differentially expressed genes in the susceptible Ae. aegypti individuals than the refractory mosquitoes. The functional annotation of ESTs revealed a broad response in the susceptible library that included immune molecules, metabolic molecules and transcription factors. In the refractory strain, there was the presence of a trypsin inhibitor gene, which could play a role in the infection. These results serve as a template for more detailed studies aiming to characterize the genetic components of refractoriness, which in turn can be used to devise new approaches to combat transmission of dengue fever.