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The Avian Transcriptome Response to Malaria Infection.

Videvall, Elin LU ; Cornwallis, Charlie LU ; Palinauskas, Vaidas ; Valkiūnas, Gediminas and Hellgren, Olof LU (2015) In Molecular biology and evolution 32(5). p.1255-1267
Abstract
Malaria parasites are highly virulent pathogens which infect a wide range of vertebrates. Despite their importance, the way different hosts control and suppress malaria infections remains poorly understood. With recent developments in next generation sequencing techniques, however, it is now possible to quantify the response of the entire transcriptome to infections. We experimentally infected Eurasian siskins (Spinus spinus) with avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium ashfordi), and used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to measure the avian transcriptome in blood collected before infection (day 0), during peak parasitemia (day 21 post infection), and when parasitemia was decreasing (day 31). We found considerable differences in the... (More)
Malaria parasites are highly virulent pathogens which infect a wide range of vertebrates. Despite their importance, the way different hosts control and suppress malaria infections remains poorly understood. With recent developments in next generation sequencing techniques, however, it is now possible to quantify the response of the entire transcriptome to infections. We experimentally infected Eurasian siskins (Spinus spinus) with avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium ashfordi), and used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to measure the avian transcriptome in blood collected before infection (day 0), during peak parasitemia (day 21 post infection), and when parasitemia was decreasing (day 31). We found considerable differences in the transcriptomes of infected and uninfected individuals, with a large number of genes differentially expressed during both peak and decreasing parasitemia stages. These genes were overrepresented among functions involved in the immune system, stress response, cell death regulation, metabolism, and telomerase activity. Comparative analyses of the differentially expressed genes in our study to those found in other hosts of malaria (human and mouse), revealed a set of genes that are potentially involved in highly conserved evolutionary responses to malaria infection. By using RNA-sequencing we gained a more complete view of the host response, and were able to pinpoint not only well documented host genes, but also unannotated genes with clear significance during infection, such as microRNAs. This study shows how the avian blood transcriptome shifts in response to malaria infection, and we believe it will facilitate further research into the diversity of molecular mechanisms that hosts utilize to fight malaria infections. (Less)
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author
; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Molecular biology and evolution
volume
32
issue
5
pages
1255 - 1267
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • pmid:25636457
  • wos:000355318400013
  • scopus:84929629291
  • pmid:25636457
ISSN
0737-4038
DOI
10.1093/molbev/msv016
project
Malaria in birds
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
05c2ce82-e0c9-4cac-ad04-b0dc950c8517 (old id 5146010)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:51:16
date last changed
2024-05-05 23:14:56
@article{05c2ce82-e0c9-4cac-ad04-b0dc950c8517,
  abstract     = {{Malaria parasites are highly virulent pathogens which infect a wide range of vertebrates. Despite their importance, the way different hosts control and suppress malaria infections remains poorly understood. With recent developments in next generation sequencing techniques, however, it is now possible to quantify the response of the entire transcriptome to infections. We experimentally infected Eurasian siskins (Spinus spinus) with avian malaria parasites (Plasmodium ashfordi), and used high-throughput RNA-sequencing to measure the avian transcriptome in blood collected before infection (day 0), during peak parasitemia (day 21 post infection), and when parasitemia was decreasing (day 31). We found considerable differences in the transcriptomes of infected and uninfected individuals, with a large number of genes differentially expressed during both peak and decreasing parasitemia stages. These genes were overrepresented among functions involved in the immune system, stress response, cell death regulation, metabolism, and telomerase activity. Comparative analyses of the differentially expressed genes in our study to those found in other hosts of malaria (human and mouse), revealed a set of genes that are potentially involved in highly conserved evolutionary responses to malaria infection. By using RNA-sequencing we gained a more complete view of the host response, and were able to pinpoint not only well documented host genes, but also unannotated genes with clear significance during infection, such as microRNAs. This study shows how the avian blood transcriptome shifts in response to malaria infection, and we believe it will facilitate further research into the diversity of molecular mechanisms that hosts utilize to fight malaria infections.}},
  author       = {{Videvall, Elin and Cornwallis, Charlie and Palinauskas, Vaidas and Valkiūnas, Gediminas and Hellgren, Olof}},
  issn         = {{0737-4038}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1255--1267}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Molecular biology and evolution}},
  title        = {{The Avian Transcriptome Response to Malaria Infection.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msv016}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/molbev/msv016}},
  volume       = {{32}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}