Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle

Abstract Background Plasmodium interspersed repeat (pir) is the largest multigene family in the genomes of most Plasmodium species. A variety of functions for the PIR proteins which they encode have been proposed, including antigenic variation, immune evasion, sequestration and rosetting. However, d...

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Published in:Malaria Journal
Main Authors: Timothy S. Little, Deirdre A. Cunningham, Audrey Vandomme, Carlos Talavera Lopez, Sarah Amis, Christopher Alder, John W. G. Addy, Sarah McLaughlin, Caroline Hosking, George Christophides, Adam J. Reid, Jean Langhorne
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: BMC 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6
https://doaj.org/article/9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43 2023-05-15T15:12:00+02:00 Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle Timothy S. Little Deirdre A. Cunningham Audrey Vandomme Carlos Talavera Lopez Sarah Amis Christopher Alder John W. G. Addy Sarah McLaughlin Caroline Hosking George Christophides Adam J. Reid Jean Langhorne 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6 https://doaj.org/article/9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43 EN eng BMC https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43 Malaria Journal, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6 2022-12-31T07:10:32Z Abstract Background Plasmodium interspersed repeat (pir) is the largest multigene family in the genomes of most Plasmodium species. A variety of functions for the PIR proteins which they encode have been proposed, including antigenic variation, immune evasion, sequestration and rosetting. However, direct evidence for these is lacking. The repetitive nature of the family has made it difficult to determine function experimentally. However, there has been some success in using gene expression studies to suggest roles for some members in virulence and chronic infection. Methods Here pir gene expression was examined across the life cycle of Plasmodium berghei using publicly available RNAseq data-sets, and at high resolution in the intraerythrocytic development cycle using new data from Plasmodium chabaudi. Results Expression of pir genes is greatest in stages of the parasite which invade and reside in red blood cells. The marked exception is that liver merozoites and male gametocytes produce a very large number of pir gene transcripts, notably compared to female gametocytes, which produce relatively few. Within the asexual blood stages different subfamilies peak at different times, suggesting further functional distinctions. Representing a subfamily of its own, the highly conserved ancestral pir gene warrants further investigation due to its potential tractability for functional investigation. It is highly transcribed in multiple life cycle stages and across most studied Plasmodium species and thus is likely to play an important role in parasite biology. Conclusions The identification of distinct expression patterns for different pir genes and subfamilies is likely to provide a basis for the design of future experiments to uncover their function. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 20 1
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
spellingShingle Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Timothy S. Little
Deirdre A. Cunningham
Audrey Vandomme
Carlos Talavera Lopez
Sarah Amis
Christopher Alder
John W. G. Addy
Sarah McLaughlin
Caroline Hosking
George Christophides
Adam J. Reid
Jean Langhorne
Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
topic_facet Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
description Abstract Background Plasmodium interspersed repeat (pir) is the largest multigene family in the genomes of most Plasmodium species. A variety of functions for the PIR proteins which they encode have been proposed, including antigenic variation, immune evasion, sequestration and rosetting. However, direct evidence for these is lacking. The repetitive nature of the family has made it difficult to determine function experimentally. However, there has been some success in using gene expression studies to suggest roles for some members in virulence and chronic infection. Methods Here pir gene expression was examined across the life cycle of Plasmodium berghei using publicly available RNAseq data-sets, and at high resolution in the intraerythrocytic development cycle using new data from Plasmodium chabaudi. Results Expression of pir genes is greatest in stages of the parasite which invade and reside in red blood cells. The marked exception is that liver merozoites and male gametocytes produce a very large number of pir gene transcripts, notably compared to female gametocytes, which produce relatively few. Within the asexual blood stages different subfamilies peak at different times, suggesting further functional distinctions. Representing a subfamily of its own, the highly conserved ancestral pir gene warrants further investigation due to its potential tractability for functional investigation. It is highly transcribed in multiple life cycle stages and across most studied Plasmodium species and thus is likely to play an important role in parasite biology. Conclusions The identification of distinct expression patterns for different pir genes and subfamilies is likely to provide a basis for the design of future experiments to uncover their function.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Timothy S. Little
Deirdre A. Cunningham
Audrey Vandomme
Carlos Talavera Lopez
Sarah Amis
Christopher Alder
John W. G. Addy
Sarah McLaughlin
Caroline Hosking
George Christophides
Adam J. Reid
Jean Langhorne
author_facet Timothy S. Little
Deirdre A. Cunningham
Audrey Vandomme
Carlos Talavera Lopez
Sarah Amis
Christopher Alder
John W. G. Addy
Sarah McLaughlin
Caroline Hosking
George Christophides
Adam J. Reid
Jean Langhorne
author_sort Timothy S. Little
title Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
title_short Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
title_full Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
title_fullStr Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of pir gene expression across the Plasmodium life cycle
title_sort analysis of pir gene expression across the plasmodium life cycle
publisher BMC
publishDate 2021
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6
https://doaj.org/article/9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43
geographic Arctic
geographic_facet Arctic
genre Arctic
genre_facet Arctic
op_source Malaria Journal, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021)
op_relation https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6
https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875
doi:10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6
1475-2875
https://doaj.org/article/9efaea334f8249f48589d96afa34ed43
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03979-6
container_title Malaria Journal
container_volume 20
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