Pumilio genes from the Platyhelminthes

Abstract

Pumilio proteins are proposed to have a conserved primordial function in the maintenance of proliferation in stem cells through post-transcriptional regulation. In this work, a search for pumilio homology domain (PUM-HD) sequences of pumilio genes from several Platyhelminthes species was performed, including representatives form Cestoda, Trematoda and Tricladida. Only one PUM-HD sequence was found in each triclad species; however, two PUM-HD homologues were found in all the parasitic species. These sequences formed two clearly separated clades: PlatyPum1, with sequences from all species, and PlatyPum2, composed exclusively of neodermatan sequences. Therefore, at least one duplication of the pumilio gene must have occurred before the divergence of cestodes and trematodes. Further duplications of PUM-HD were found in Fasciola hepatica, but these consist of retropseudogenes. This is the first comparative analysis of PUM-HD sequences in the Platyhelminthes and, more generally, in any lophotrochozoan phylum.

Genome-wide transcriptome profiling and spatial expression analyses identify signals and switches of development in tapeworms

“…Unlike the Larvae, however, DE GOI in the Scolex-Neck also included five components of TGF-β/BMP signalling, including tgfb and bmp2 -like genes, an ortholog of Hedgehog, the primary ligand of the Hedgehog signalling pathway, and a tef - 5 -like transcript associated with Hippo signalling [ 90 , 91 ]. One of three paralogs of the stem cell regulator Pumilio [ 92 , 93 ] ( pum1 ) is up-regulated relative to the End sample (but not to the Mid), whereas the remaining paralogs, pum2 and pum3 , are independently up-regulated in the Mid and End samples, respectively (Table 2 ).…”

A Novel Terminal-Repeat Retrotransposon in Miniature (TRIM) Is Massively Expressed inEchinococcus multilocularisStem Cells

“…The intron neutral substitution rate was estimated from the average of K2P+G estimates of both genes using the formula r = s/2t, where r is the substitution rate, s the estimated substitutions per site, and t the time of divergence (set as 3 Myr for E. vogeli and E. oligarthrus ; Knapp et al 2011 ). For E. multilocularis , E. granulosus , and T. solium , divergence values were also estimated for other well-characterized genes ( emmpk2 , emsmadC , emmpk1 , emraf , emegfr , and emir1 from E. multilocularis [ Spiliotis et al 2003 , 2005 , 2006 ; Gelmedin et al 2008 ; Zavala-Gongora et al 2008 ; Hemer et al 2014 ], egpum1 from E. granulosus [ Koziol et al 2008 ], and their orthologs retrieved from the other species). When comparing T. solium and E. multilocularis , only the shortest introns showing trustworthy alignments were included, and therefore the divergence values between both species are conservative.…”

Cell repertoire and proliferation of germinative cells of the model cestode Mesocestoides corti

“…Two previously isolated M. corti pumilio genes [ McPum1 and McPum2 (Koziol et al ., 2008)], as well as the vasa homologue McpL10 were evaluated as putative markers of germinative cells in M. corti . First, the levels of mRNA expression for these marker genes were evaluated by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction during strobilar development.…”

“…Digoxigenin-labelled probes were synthesized by in vitro transcription with SP6 polymerase (New England Biolabs), using the DIG RNA labelling mix (Roche) as described by the manufacturer. A fragment of the target genes was amplified using degenerate primers [FwVasa: 5´-ATGGCNTGYGCNCARACNGGN-3á nd RvVasa: 5´-NCCCATRTCNARCATNCKRTC-3´for McpL10 gene, and primers described in Koziol et al (2008) for pumilio genes] and cloned in pGEM-T Easy (Promega). The McpL10 gene was cloned using the primers indicated above, prior to the sequencing and publication of the M. corti genome (Coghlan et al, 2019).…”