Alternative splicing is required for stage differentiation in malaria parasites

Genome Biology
Lee M YeohStuart A Ralph

Abstract

In multicellular organisms, alternative splicing is central to tissue differentiation and identity. Unicellular protists lack multicellular tissue but differentiate into variable cell types during their life cycles. The role of alternative splicing in transitions between cell types and establishing cellular identity is currently unknown in any unicellular organism. To test whether alternative splicing in unicellular protists plays a role in cellular differentiation, we conduct RNA-seq to compare splicing in female and male sexual stages to asexual intraerythrocytic stages in the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei. We find extensive changes in alternative splicing between stages and a role for alternative splicing in sexual differentiation. Previously, general gametocyte differentiation was shown to be modulated by specific transcription factors. Here, we show that alternative splicing establishes a subsequent layer of regulation, controlling genes relating to consequent sex-specific differentiation of gametocytes. We demonstrate that alternative splicing is reprogrammed during cellular differentiation of a unicellular protist. Disruption of an alternative splicing factor, PbSR-MG, perturbs sex-specific alternative splic...Continue Reading

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Citations

May 20, 2020·Dose-response : a Publication of International Hormesis Society·Ruixue HuangPing-Kun Zhou
Feb 6, 2020·MBio·Maria Toro-MorenoEmily R Derbyshire
Mar 13, 2021·Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology·Mengquan YangQingfeng Zhang
May 8, 2021·Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology·Chandra Ramakrishnan, Nicholas C Smith
Sep 3, 2021·Parasitology International·Gigliola Zanghi, Ashley M Vaughan
Jul 2, 2021·Annual Review of Microbiology·Carola SchäferStefan H I Kappe

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
transgenic
confocal microscopy
transfections
transfection
PCR
FACS

Software Mentioned

Junction
RSeQC package
featureCounts
PlasmoDB
GBrowse
Leica
JunctionJuror
PlasmoGEM
DEXSeq

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Alternative splicing

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