Abstract
Ascaris nematodes, which cause ascariasis in humans and pigs, are among the most important nematodes from both health and economic perspectives. microRNA (miRNA) is now recognized as key regulator of gene expression at posttranscription level. The public availability of the genome and transcripts of Ascaris suum provides powerful resources for the research of miRNA profiles of the parasite. Therefore, we investigated and compared the miRNA profiles of male and female adult A. suum using Solexa deep sequencing combined with bioinformatic analysis and stem-loop reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Deep sequencing of small RNAs yielded 11.71 and 11.72 million raw reads from male and female adults of A. suum, respectively. Analysis showed that the noncoding RNA of the two genders, including tRNA, rRNA, snRNA, and snoRNA, were similar. By mapping to the A. suum genome, we obtained 494 and 505 miRNA candidates from the female and male parasite, respectively, and 87 and 82 of miRNA candidates were consistent with A. suum miRNAs deposited in the miRBase database. Among the miRNA candidates, 154 were shared by the two genders, and 340 and 351 were female and male specific with their target numbers ranged from one to thousands, respectively. Functional prediction revealed a set of elongation factors, heat shock proteins, and growth factors from the targets of gender-specific miRNAs, which were essential for the development of the parasite. Moreover, major sperm protein and nematode sperm cell motility protein were found in targets of the male-specific miRNAs. Ovarian message protein was found in targets of the female-specific miRNAs. Enrichment analysis revealed significant differences among Gene Ontology terms of miRNA targets of the two genders, such as electron carrier and biological adhesion process. The regulating functions of gender-specific miRNAs was therefore not only related to the fundamental functions of cells but also were essential to the germ development of the parasite. The present study provides a framework for further research of Ascaris miRNAs, and consequently leads to the development of potential nucleotide vaccines against Ascaris of human and animal health significance.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by The Science Fund for Creative Research Groups of Gansu Province (grant No. 1210RJIA006), the National S & T Major Program (grant No. 2012ZX10004220), the Open Funds of the State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (grant No. SKLVEB2011KFKT004 and SKLVEB2011KFKT010), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant No. 201104363 and 20090460064), and the Guangdong Provincial Program for Excellent Ph.D. theses (grant No. sybzzxm201037). The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which the experiments were performed.
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Additional file 1
Conserved gender-specific miRNAs of A. suum. (DOCX 18 kb)
Additional file 2
Annotated functions of conserved gender-specific miRNAs of A. suum. (DOCX 17 kb)
Additional file 3
Predicated female targets of female-specific miRNAs by using mRNA and EST deposited in the GenBank. (DOCX 52 kb)
Additional file 4
Predicated male targets of male-specific miRNAs by using mRNA and EST deposited in the GenBank. (DOCX 50 kb)
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Xu, MJ., Fu, JH., Nisbet, A.J. et al. Comparative profiling of microRNAs in male and female adults of Ascaris suum . Parasitol Res 112, 1189–1195 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3250-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-012-3250-x