Abstract
Schistosomes infect hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. Transmission of these parasites relies on a stem cell-driven, clonal expansion of larvae inside a molluscan intermediate host. How this novel asexual reproductive strategy relates to current models of stem cell maintenance and germline specification is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that this proliferative larval cell population (germinal cells) shares some molecular signatures with stem cells from diverse organisms, in particular neoblasts of planarians (free-living relatives of schistosomes). We identify two distinct germinal cell lineages that differ in their proliferation kinetics and expression of a nanos ortholog. We show that a vasa/PL10 homolog is required for proliferation and maintenance of both populations, whereas argonaute2 and a fibroblast growth factor receptor-encoding gene are required only for nanos-negative cells. Our results suggest that an ancient stem cell-based developmental program may have enabled the evolution of the complex life cycle of parasitic flatworms.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | e00768 |
| Journal | eLife |
| Volume | 2013 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jul 30 2013 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
- Immunology and Microbiology(all)
- Medicine(all)
- Neuroscience(all)
Cite this
Functional genomic characterization of neoblast-like stem cells in larval Schistosoma mansoni. / Wang, Bo; Collins, James J.; Newmark, Phillip A.
In: eLife, Vol. 2013, No. 2, e00768, 30.07.2013.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Functional genomic characterization of neoblast-like stem cells in larval Schistosoma mansoni
AU - Wang, Bo
AU - Collins, James J.
AU - Newmark, Phillip A.
PY - 2013/7/30
Y1 - 2013/7/30
N2 - Schistosomes infect hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. Transmission of these parasites relies on a stem cell-driven, clonal expansion of larvae inside a molluscan intermediate host. How this novel asexual reproductive strategy relates to current models of stem cell maintenance and germline specification is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that this proliferative larval cell population (germinal cells) shares some molecular signatures with stem cells from diverse organisms, in particular neoblasts of planarians (free-living relatives of schistosomes). We identify two distinct germinal cell lineages that differ in their proliferation kinetics and expression of a nanos ortholog. We show that a vasa/PL10 homolog is required for proliferation and maintenance of both populations, whereas argonaute2 and a fibroblast growth factor receptor-encoding gene are required only for nanos-negative cells. Our results suggest that an ancient stem cell-based developmental program may have enabled the evolution of the complex life cycle of parasitic flatworms.
AB - Schistosomes infect hundreds of millions of people in the developing world. Transmission of these parasites relies on a stem cell-driven, clonal expansion of larvae inside a molluscan intermediate host. How this novel asexual reproductive strategy relates to current models of stem cell maintenance and germline specification is unclear. Here, we demonstrate that this proliferative larval cell population (germinal cells) shares some molecular signatures with stem cells from diverse organisms, in particular neoblasts of planarians (free-living relatives of schistosomes). We identify two distinct germinal cell lineages that differ in their proliferation kinetics and expression of a nanos ortholog. We show that a vasa/PL10 homolog is required for proliferation and maintenance of both populations, whereas argonaute2 and a fibroblast growth factor receptor-encoding gene are required only for nanos-negative cells. Our results suggest that an ancient stem cell-based developmental program may have enabled the evolution of the complex life cycle of parasitic flatworms.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881050928&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84881050928&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.7554/eLife.00768
DO - 10.7554/eLife.00768
M3 - Article
C2 - 23908765
AN - SCOPUS:84881050928
VL - 2013
JO - eLife
JF - eLife
SN - 2050-084X
IS - 2
M1 - e00768
ER -