The life cycle of Taenia solium is characterized by different stages of development, requiring various kinds of hosts that can appropriately harbor the eggs (proglottids), the oncospheres, the larvae and the adults. Similar to other metazoan pathogens, T. solium undergoes transcriptional and developmental regulation via epigenetics during its complex lifecycle and host interactions. In the present study, we integrated whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and RNA-seq technologies to characterize the genome-wide DNA methylation and its effect on transcription of Cysticercus cellulosae of T. solium. We confirm that the T. solium genome in the cysticercus stage is epigenetically modified by DNA methylation in a pattern similar to that of other invertebrate genomes, i.e., sparsely or moderately methylated. We also observed an enrichment of non-CpG methylation in defined genetic elements of the T. solium genome. Furthermore, an integrative analysis of both the transcriptome and the DNA methylome indicated a strong correlation between these two datasets, suggesting that gene expression might be tightly regulated by DNA methylation. Importantly, our data suggested that DNA methylation might play an important role in repressing key parasitism-related genes, including genes encoding excretion-secretion proteins, thereby raising the possibility of targeting DNA methylation processes as a useful strategy in therapeutics of cysticercosis.

中文翻译：

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综合表观基因组-转录组学分析揭示纤维素囊尾蚴关键寄生基因的DNA甲基化调控

猪带绦虫的生命周期具有不同发育阶段的特点，需要能够适当容纳卵（节节）、球状体、幼虫和成虫的各种宿主。与其他后生动物病原体类似，猪瘟在其复杂的生命周期和宿主相互作用中通过表观遗传学进行转录和发育调节。在本研究中，我们整合了全基因组亚硫酸氢盐测序和 RNA-seq 技术来表征全基因组 DNA 甲基化及其对猪绦虫 Cysticercus cellulosae 转录的影响。我们确认在囊尾蚴阶段的猪绦虫基因组通过 DNA 甲基化以类似于其他无脊椎动物基因组的模式进行表观遗传修饰，即稀疏或中度甲基化。我们还观察到非 CpG 甲基化在 T. solium 基因组的定义遗传元件中的富集。此外，对转录组和 DNA 甲基化组的综合分析表明这两个数据集之间存在很强的相关性，表明基因表达可能受到 DNA 甲基化的严格调控。重要的是，我们的数据表明 DNA 甲基化可能在抑制关键寄生虫相关基因（包括编码排泄分泌蛋白的基因）方面发挥重要作用，从而提高了靶向 DNA 甲基化过程作为治疗囊尾蚴病的有用策略的可能性。表明基因表达可能受到 DNA 甲基化的严格调控。重要的是，我们的数据表明 DNA 甲基化可能在抑制关键寄生虫相关基因（包括编码排泄分泌蛋白的基因）方面发挥重要作用，从而提高了靶向 DNA 甲基化过程作为治疗囊尾蚴病的有用策略的可能性。表明基因表达可能受到 DNA 甲基化的严格调控。重要的是，我们的数据表明 DNA 甲基化可能在抑制关键寄生虫相关基因（包括编码排泄分泌蛋白的基因）方面发挥重要作用，从而提高了靶向 DNA 甲基化过程作为治疗囊尾蚴病的有用策略的可能性。