Single-cell transcriptomics of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni first intra-molluscan stage reveals tentative tegumental and stem-cell regulators.

Schistosomiasis is a major Neglected Tropical Disease, caused by the infection with blood flukes in the genus Schistosoma. To complete the life cycle, the parasite undergoes asexual and sexual reproduction within an intermediate snail host and a definitive mammalian host, respectively. The intra-molluscan phase provides a critical amplification step that ensures a successful transmission. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the development of the intra-molluscan stages remain poorly understood. Here, single cell suspensions from S. mansoni mother sporocysts were produced and sequenced using the droplet-based 10X Genomics Chromium platform. Six cell clusters comprising two tegument, muscle, neuron, parenchyma and stem/germinal cell clusters were identified and validated by in situ hybridisation. Gene Ontology term analysis predicted key biological processes for each of the clusters, including three stem/germinal sub-clusters. Furthermore, putative transcription factors predicted for stem/germinal and tegument clusters may play key roles during parasite development and interaction with the intermediate host.

A phylogenomic approach to resolving interrelationships of polyclad flatworms, with implications for life-history evolution.

Platyhelminthes (flatworms) are a diverse invertebrate phylum useful for exploring life-history evolution. Within Platyhelminthes, only two clades develop through a larval stage: free-living polyclads and parasitic neodermatans. Neodermatan larvae are considered evolutionarily derived, whereas polyclad larvae are hypothesized to be ancestral due to ciliary band similarities among polyclad and other spiralian larvae. However, larval evolution has been challenging to investigate within polyclads due to low support for deeper phylogenetic relationships. To investigate polyclad life-history evolution, we generated transcriptomic data for 21 species of polyclads to build a well-supported phylogeny for the group. The resulting tree provides strong support for deeper nodes, and we recover a new monophyletic clade of early branching cotyleans. We then used ancestral state reconstructions to investigate ancestral modes of development within Polycladida and more broadly within flatworms. In polyclads, we were unable to reconstruct the ancestral state of deeper nodes with significant support because early branching clades show diverse modes of development. This suggests a complex history of larval evolution in polyclads that likely includes multiple losses and/or multiple gains. However, our ancestral state reconstruction across a previously published platyhelminth phylogeny supports a direct developing prorhynchid/polyclad ancestor, which suggests that a larval stage in the life cycle evolved along the polyclad stem lineage or within polyclads.

Defining the early stages of intestinal colonisation by whipworms.

Whipworms are large metazoan parasites that inhabit multi-intracellular epithelial tunnels in the large intestine of their hosts, causing chronic disease in humans and other mammals. How first-stage larvae invade host epithelia and establish infection remains unclear. Here we investigate early infection events using both Trichuris muris infections of mice and murine caecaloids, the first in-vitro system for whipworm infection and organoid model for live helminths. We show that larvae degrade mucus layers to access epithelial cells. In early syncytial tunnels, larvae are completely intracellular, woven through multiple live dividing cells. Using single-cell RNA sequencing of infected mouse caecum, we reveal that progression of infection results in cell damage and an expansion of enterocytes expressing of Isg15, potentially instigating the host immune response to the whipworm and tissue repair. Our results unravel intestinal epithelium invasion by whipworms and reveal specific host-parasite interactions that allow the whipworm to establish its multi-intracellular niche.

Daily rhythms in gene expression of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni.

BACKGROUND: The consequences of the earth's daily rotation have led to 24-h biological rhythms in most organisms. Even some parasites are known to have daily rhythms, which, when in synchrony with host rhythms, can optimise their fitness. Understanding these rhythms may enable the development of control strategies that take advantage of rhythmic vulnerabilities. Recent work on protozoan parasites has revealed 24-h rhythms in gene expression, drug sensitivity and the presence of an intrinsic circadian clock; however, similar studies on metazoan parasites are lacking. To address this, we investigated if a metazoan parasite has daily molecular oscillations, whether they reveal how these longer-lived organisms can survive host daily cycles over a lifespan of many years and if animal circadian clock genes are present and rhythmic. We addressed these questions using the human blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni that lives in the vasculature for decades and causes the tropical disease schistosomiasis. RESULTS: Using round-the-clock transcriptomics of male and female adult worms collected from experimentally infected mice, we discovered that ~ 2% of its genes followed a daily pattern of expression. Rhythmic processes included a stress response during the host's active phase and a 'peak in metabolic activity' during the host's resting phase. Transcriptional profiles in the female reproductive system were mirrored by daily patterns in egg laying (eggs are the main drivers of the host pathology). Genes cycling with the highest amplitudes include predicted drug targets and a vaccine candidate. These 24-h rhythms may be driven by host rhythms and/or generated by a circadian clock; however, orthologs of core clock genes are missing and secondary clock genes show no 24-h rhythmicity. CONCLUSIONS: There are daily rhythms in the transcriptomes of adult S. mansoni, but they appear less pronounced than in other organisms. The rhythms reveal temporally compartmentalised internal processes and host interactions relevant to within-host survival and between-host transmission. Our findings suggest that if these daily rhythms are generated by an intrinsic circadian clock then the oscillatory mechanism must be distinct from that in other animals. We have shown which transcripts oscillate at this temporal scale and this will benefit the development and delivery of treatments against schistosomiasis.

The Transcriptome of Schistosoma mansoni Developing Eggs Reveals Key Mediators in Pathogenesis and Life Cycle Propagation.

Schistosomiasis, the most important helminthic disease of humanity, is caused by infection with parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. The disease is driven by parasite eggs becoming trapped in host tissues, followed by inflammation and granuloma formation. Despite abundant transcriptome data for most developmental stages of the three main human-infective schistosome species-Schistosoma mansoni, S. japonicum and S. haematobium-the transcriptomic profiles of developing eggs remain under unexplored. In this study, we performed RNAseq of S. mansoni eggs laid in vitro during early and late embryogenesis, days 1-3 and 3-6 post-oviposition, respectively. Analysis of the transcriptomes identified hundreds of up-regulated genes during the later stage, including venom allergen-like (VAL) proteins, well-established host immunomodulators, and genes involved in organogenesis of the miracidium larva. In addition, the transcriptomes of the in vitro laid eggs were compared with existing publicly available RNA-seq datasets from S. mansoni eggs collected from the livers of rodent hosts. Analysis of enriched GO terms and pathway annotations revealed cell division and protein synthesis processes associated with early embryogenesis, whereas cellular metabolic processes, microtubule-based movement, and microtubule cytoskeleton organization were enriched in the later developmental time point. This is the first transcriptomic analysis of S. mansoni embryonic development, and will facilitate our understanding of infection pathogenesis, miracidial development and life cycle progression of schistosomes.

Extraocular, rod-like photoreceptors in a flatworm express xenopsin photopigment.

Animals detect light using opsin photopigments. Xenopsin, a recently classified subtype of opsin, challenges our views on opsin and photoreceptor evolution. Originally thought to belong to the Gαi-coupled ciliary opsins, xenopsins are now understood to have diverged from ciliary opsins in pre-bilaterian times, but little is known about the cells that deploy these proteins, or if they form a photopigment and drive phototransduction. We characterized xenopsin in a flatworm, Maritigrella crozieri, and found it expressed in ciliary cells of eyes in the larva, and in extraocular cells around the brain in the adult. These extraocular cells house hundreds of cilia in an intra-cellular vacuole (phaosome). Functional assays in human cells show Maritigrella xenopsin drives phototransduction primarily by coupling to Gαi. These findings highlight similarities between xenopsin and c-opsin and reveal a novel type of opsin-expressing cell that, like jawed vertebrate rods, encloses the ciliary membrane within their own plasma membrane.

A transcriptomic-phylogenomic analysis of the evolutionary relationships of flatworms.

The interrelationships of the flatworms (phylum Platyhelminthes) are poorly resolved despite decades of morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies. The earliest-branching clades (Catenulida, Macrostomorpha, and Polycladida) share spiral cleavage and entolecithal eggs with other lophotrochozoans. Lecithoepitheliata have primitive spiral cleavage but derived ectolecithal eggs. Other orders (Rhabdocoela, Proseriata, Tricladida and relatives, and Bothrioplanida) all have derived ectolecithal eggs but have uncertain affinities to one another. The orders of parasitic Neodermata emerge from an uncertain position from within these ectolecithal classes. To tackle these problems, we have sequenced transcriptomes from 18 flatworms and 5 other metazoan groups. The addition of published data produces an alignment of >107,000 amino acids with less than 28% missing data from 27 flatworm taxa in 11 orders covering all major clades. Our phylogenetic analyses show that Platyhelminthes consist of the two clades Catenulida and Rhabditophora. Within Rhabditophora, we show the earliest-emerging branch is Macrostomorpha, not Polycladida. We show Lecithoepitheliata are not members of Neoophora but are sister group of Polycladida, implying independent origins of the ectolecithal eggs found in Lecithoepitheliata and Neoophora. We resolve Rhabdocoela as the most basally branching euneoophoran taxon. Tricladida, Bothrioplanida, and Neodermata constitute a group that appears to have lost both spiral cleavage and centrosomes. We identify Bothrioplanida as the long-sought closest free-living sister group of the parasitic Neodermata. Among parasitic orders, we show that Cestoda are closer to Trematoda than to Monogenea, rejecting the concept of the Cercomeromorpha. Our results have important implications for understanding the evolution of this major phylum.

The diversity, development and evolution of polyclad flatworm larvae.

Polyclad flatworms offer an excellent system with which to explore the evolution of larval structures and the ecological and developmental mechanisms driving flatworm and marine invertebrate life history evolution. Although the most common mode of development in polyclads might be direct development (where the embryo develops directly into a form resembling the young adult), there are many species that develop indirectly, through a planktonic phase with transient larval features, before settling to the sea floor. In this review, I introduce polyclad life history strategies, larval diversity and larval anatomical features (presenting previously unpublished micrographs of a diversity of polyclad larvae). I summarize what is known about polyclad larval development during the planktonic phase and the transition to the benthic juvenile. Finally, I discuss evolutionary and developmental scenarios on the origin of polyclad larval characters.The most prominent characters that are found exclusively in the larval stages are lobes that protrude from the body and a ciliary band, or ciliary tufts, at the peripheral margins of the lobes. Larvae with 4-8 and 10 lobes have been described, with most indirect developing species hatching with 8 lobes. A ventral sucker develops in late stage larvae, and I put forward the hypothesis that this is an organ for larval settlement for species belonging to the Cotylea. Historically, the biphasic life cycle of polyclads was thought to be a shared primitive feature of marine invertebrates, with similarities in larval features among phyla resulting from evolutionary conservation. However, our current understanding of animal phylogeny suggests that indirect development in polyclads has evolved independently of similar life cycles found in parasitic flatworms and some other spiralian taxa, and that morphological similarities between the larvae of polyclads and other spiralians are likely a result of convergent evolution.

Put a tiger in your tank: the polyclad flatworm Maritigrella crozieri as a proposed model for evo-devo.

Polyclad flatworms are an early branching clade within the rhabditophoran Platyhelminthes. They provide an interesting system with which to explore the evolution of development within Platyhelminthes and amongst Spiralia (Lophotrochozoa). Unlike most other flatworms, polyclads undergo spiral cleavage (similar to that seen in some other spiralian taxa), they are the only free-living flatworms where development via a larval stage occurs, and they are the only flatworms in which embryos can be reared outside of their protective egg case, enabling embryonic manipulations. Past work has focused on comparing early cleavage patterns and larval anatomy between polyclads and other spiralians. We have selected Maritigrella crozieri, the tiger flatworm, as a suitable polyclad species for developmental studies, because it is abundant and large in size compared to other species. These characteristics have facilitated the generation of a transcriptome from embryonic and larval material and are enabling us to develop methods for gene expression analysis and immunofluorescence techniques. Here we give an overview of M. crozieri and its development, we highlight the advantages and current limitations of this animal as a potential evo-devo model and discuss current lines of research.

Discovery of the corallivorous polyclad flatworm, Amakusaplana acroporae, on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia--the first report from the wild.

The role of corallivory is becoming increasingly recognised as an important factor in coral health at a time when coral reefs around the world face a number of other stressors. The polyclad flatworm, Amakusaplana acroporae, is a voracious predator of Indo-Pacific acroporid corals in captivity, and its inadvertent introduction into aquaria has lead to the death of entire coral colonies. While this flatworm has been a pest to the coral aquaculture community for over a decade, it has only been found in aquaria and has never been described from the wild. Understanding its biology and ecology in its natural environment is crucial for identifying viable biological controls for more successful rearing of Acropora colonies in aquaria, and for our understanding of what biotic interactions are important to coral growth and fitness on reefs. Using morphological, histological and molecular techniques we determine that a polyclad found on Acropora valida from Lizard Island, Australia is A. acroporae. The presence of extracellular Symbiodinium in the gut and parenchyma and spirocysts in the gut indicates that it is a corallivore in the wild. The examination of a size-range of individuals shows maturation of the sexual apparatus and increases in the number of eyes with increased body length. Conservative estimates of abundance show that A. acroporae occurred on 7 of the 10 coral colonies collected, with an average of 2.6±0.65 (mean ±SE) animals per colony. This represents the first report of A. acroporae in the wild, and sets the stage for future studies of A. acroporae ecology and life history in its natural habitat.

Holocephalan embryos provide evidence for gill arch appendage reduction and opercular evolution in cartilaginous fishes.

Chondrichthyans possess endoskeletal appendages called branchial rays that extend laterally from their hyoid and gill-bearing (branchial) arches. Branchial ray outgrowth, like tetrapod limb outgrowth, is maintained by Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling. In limbs, distal endoskeletal elements fail to form in the absence of normal Shh signaling, whereas shortened duration of Shh expression correlates with distal endoskeletal reduction in naturally variable populations. Chondrichthyans also exhibit natural variation with respect to branchial ray distribution--elasmobranchs (sharks and batoids) possess a series of ray-supported septa on their hyoid and gill arches, whereas holocephalans (chimaeras) possess a single hyoid arch ray-supported operculum. Here we show that the elongate hyoid rays of the holocephalan Callorhinchus milii grow in association with sustained Shh expression within an opercular epithelial fold, whereas Shh is only transiently expressed in the gill arches. Coincident with this transient Shh expression, branchial ray outgrowth is initiated in C. milii but is not maintained, yielding previously unrecognized vestigial gill arch branchial rays. This is in contrast to the condition seen in sharks, where sustained Shh expression corresponds to the presence of fully formed branchial rays on the hyoid and gill arches. Considered in light of current hypotheses of chondrichthyan phylogeny, our data suggest that the holocephalan operculum evolved in concert with gill arch appendage reduction by attenuation of Shh-mediated branchial ray outgrowth, and that chondrichthyan branchial rays and tetrapod limbs exhibit parallel developmental mechanisms of evolutionary reduction.

Embryonic and post-embryonic development of the polyclad flatworm Maritigrella crozieri; implications for the evolution of spiralian life history traits.

BACKGROUND: Planktonic life history stages of spiralians share some muscular, nervous and ciliary system characters in common. The distribution of these characters is patchy and can be interpreted either as the result of convergent evolution, or as the retention of primitive spiralian larval features. To understand the evolution of these characters adequate taxon sampling across the Spiralia is necessary. Polyclad flatworms are the only free-living Platyhelminthes that exhibit a continuum of developmental modes, with direct development at one extreme, and indirect development via a trochophore-like larval stage at the other. Here I present embryological and larval anatomical data from the indirect developing polyclad Maritrigrella crozieri, and consider these data within a comparative spiralian context. RESULTS: After 196 h hours of embryonic development, M. crozieri hatches as a swimming, planktotrophic larva. Larval myoanatomy consists of an orthogonal grid of circular and longitudinal body wall muscles plus parenchymal muscles. Diagonal body wall muscles develop over the planktonic period. Larval neuroanatomy consists of an apical plate, neuropile, paired nerve cords, a peri-oral nerve ring, a medial nerve, a ciliary band nerve net and putative ciliary photoreceptors. Apical neural elements develop first followed by posterior perikarya and later pharyngeal neural elements. The ciliated larva is encircled by a continuous, pre-oral band of longer cilia, which follows the distal margins of the lobes; it also possesses distinct apical and caudal cilia. CONCLUSIONS: Within polyclads heterochronic shifts in the development of diagonal bodywall and pharyngeal muscles are correlated with life history strategies and feeding requirements. In contrast to many spiralians, M. crozieri hatch with well developed nervous and muscular systems. Comparisons of the ciliary bands and apical organs amongst spiralian planktonic life-stages reveal differences; M. crozieri lack a distinct ciliary band muscle and flask-shaped epidermal serotonergic cells of the apical organ. Based on current phylogenies, the distribution of ciliary bands and apical organs between polyclads and other spiralians is not congruent with a hypothesis of homology. However, some similarities exist, and this study sets an anatomical framework from which to investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms that will help to distinguish between parallelism, convergence and homology of these features.