Impact of transposable elements in the architecture of genes of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni

Publication date: Available online 29 December 2018Source: Molecular and Biochemical ParasitologyAuthor(s): Gisele S. Philippsen, Ricardo DeMarcoAbstractThe parasites belonging to the genus Schistosoma are agents of schistosomiasis, a disease estimated as affecting 235 million people in the world. To better understand the structure of Schistosoma mansoni genome, transposable elements (TEs) distribution and impact on gene structures were investigated. Our analyses indicated a differential distribution of TEs throughout the gene structure. Introns located at the 5' end of the genes are less prone to display TEs and introns lacking TEs tend to be shorter. Therefore, this could be one of the factors explaining previous data showing that S. mansoni displays shorter introns near the 5' end of the genes. Identification of six genes harboring TEs in their coding region suggests a positive contribution for the evolution of proteome repertory of S. mansoni. Taken together, our data suggest significant contributions of TEs to the architecture of genes from S. mansoni.Graphical abstractThe gene Smp_164450.1 has an alternative transcript resulting from the skipping of the TE derived exon.
Source: Molecular and Biochemical Parasitology - Category: Parasitology Source Type: research