Schistosoma mansoni is responsible for the neglected tropical disease schistosomiasis that affects 210 million people in 76 countries. We report here analysis of the 363 megabase nuclear genome of the blood fluke. It encodes at least 11,809 genes, with an unusual intron size distribution, and novel families of micro-exon genes that undergo frequent alternate splicing. As the first sequenced flatworm, and a representative of the lophotrochozoa, it offers insights into early events in the evolution of the animals, including the development of a body pattern with bilateral symmetry, and the development of tissues into organs. Our analysis has been informed by the need to find new drug targets. The deficits in lipid metabolism that make schistosomes dependent on the host are revealed, while the identification of membrane receptors, ion channels and more than 300 proteases, provide new insights into the biology of the life cycle and novel targets. Bioinformatics approaches have identified metabolic chokepoints while a chemogenomic screen has pinpointed schistosome proteins for which existing drugs may be active. The information generated provides an invaluable resource for the research community to develop much needed new control tools for the treatment and eradication of this important and neglected disease.

Schistosomiasis is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases, affecting millions of people in developing countries. Amongst the human-infective species, Schistosoma mansoni is also the most commonly used in the laboratory and here we present the systematic improvement of its draft genome. We used Sanger capillary and deep-coverage Illumina sequencing from clonal worms to upgrade the highly fragmented draft 380 Mb genome to one with only 885 scaffolds and more than 81% of the bases organised into chromosomes. We have also used transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) from four time points in the parasite's life cycle to refine gene predictions and profile their expression. More than 45% of predicted genes have been extensively modified and the total number has been reduced from 11,807 to 10,852. Using the new version of the genome, we identified trans-splicing events occurring in at least 11% of genes and identified clear cases where it is used to resolve polycistronic transcripts. We have produced a high-resolution map of temporal changes in expression for 9,535 genes, covering an unprecedented dynamic range for this organism. All of these data have been consolidated into a searchable format within the GeneDB (www.genedb.org) and SchistoDB (www.schistodb.net) databases. With further transcriptional profiling and genome sequencing increasingly accessible, the upgraded genome will form a fundamental dataset to underpin further advances in schistosome research.

Platyhelminth parasites are a major health problem in developing countries. In contrast to their mammalian hosts, platyhelminth thiol-disulfide redox homeostasis relies on linked thioredoxin-glutathione systems, which are fully dependent on thioredoxin-glutathione reductase (TGR), a promising drug target. TGR is a homodimeric enzyme comprising a glutaredoxin domain and thioredoxin reductase (TR) domains with a C-terminal redox center containing selenocysteine (Sec). In this study, we demonstrate the existence of functional linked thioredoxin-glutathione systems in the cytosolic and mitochondrial compartments of Echinococcus granulosus, the platyhelminth responsible for hydatid disease , respectively) were higher than those reported for mammalian TRs. Analysis of TGR mutants revealed that the glutaredoxin domain is required for the GR activity but did not affect the TR activity. In contrast, both GR and TR activities were dependent on the Seccontaining redox center. The activity loss caused by the Sec-to-Cys mutation could be partially compensated by a Cys-to-Sec mutation of the neighboring residue, indicating that Sec can support catalysis at this alternative position. Consistent with the essential role of TGR in redox control, 2.5 M auranofin, a known TGR inhibitor, killed larval worms in vitro. These studies establish the selenium-and glutathione-dependent regulation of cytosolic and mitochondrial redox homeostasis through a single TGR enzyme in platyhelminths.

The HUSH complex represses retroviruses, transposons and genes to maintain the integrity of vertebrate genomes. HUSH regulates deposition of the epigenetic mark H3K9me3, but how its three core subunits — TASOR, MPP8 and Periphilin — contribute to assembly and targeting of the complex remains unknown. Here, we define the biochemical basis of HUSH assembly and find that its modular architecture resembles the yeast RNA-induced transcriptional silencing complex. TASOR, the central HUSH subunit, associates with RNA processing components. TASOR is required for H3K9me3 deposition over LINE-1 repeats and repetitive exons in transcribed genes. In the context of previous studies, this suggests that an RNA intermediate is important for HUSH activity. We dissect the TASOR and MPP8 domains necessary for transgene repression. Structure-function analyses reveal TASOR bears a catalytically-inactive PARP domain necessary for targeted H3K9me3 deposition. We conclude that TASOR is a multifunctional pseudo-PARP that directs HUSH assembly and epigenetic regulation of repetitive genomic targets.

People in regions of Schistosoma mansoni endemicity slowly acquire immunity, but why this takes years to develop is still not clear. It has been associated with increases in parasite-specific IgE, induced, some investigators propose, to antigens exposed during the death of adult worms. These antigens include members of the tegumental-allergen-like protein family (TAL1 to TAL13). Previously, in a group of S. mansoni-infected Ugandan males, we showed that IgE responses to three TALs expressed in worms (TAL1, -3, and -5) became more prevalent with age. Now, in a subcohort we examined associations of these responses with resistance to reinfection and use the data to propose a mechanism for the slow development of immunity. IgE was measured 9 weeks posttreatment and at reinfection at 2 years (n ‫؍‬ 144). An anti-TAL5 IgE (herein referred to as TAL5 IgE) response was associated with reduced reinfection even after adjusting for age using regression analysis (geometric mean odds ratio, 0.24; P ‫؍‬ 0.016). TAL5 IgE responders were a subset of TAL3 IgE responders, themselves a subset of TAL1 responders. TAL3 IgE and TAL5 IgE were highly cross-reactive, with TAL3 the immunizing antigen and TAL5 the cross-reactive antigen. Transcriptional and translational studies show that TAL3 is most abundant in adult worms and that TAL5 is most abundant in infectious larvae. We propose that in chronic schistosomiasis, older individuals have repeatedly experienced IgE antigens exposed when adult worms die (e.g., TAL3) and that this leads to increasing cross-reactivity with antigens of invading larvae (e.g., TAL5). Progressive accumulation of worm/larvae cross-reactivity could explain the age-dependent immunity observed in areas of endemicity.