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Transcriptomic analyses of Aedes aegypti cultured cells upon heme exposure

ABSTRACT: After a bloodmeal, mosquitoes import heme into the midgut epithelium. Heme acts as an essential signal for oogenesis in Aedes aegypti. However, the mechanisms behind heme import in Aedes aegypti are largely unexplored. In this study, RNA sequencing data from 4 different Aedes aegypti cell culture experiments where exposure to an overabundance or deficiency of heme was examined to identify heme-responsive genes. Zinc mesoporphyrin (ZnMP), a heme fluorescent analog, was used to measure changes in heme uptake prior to mRNA sequencing. A soft cluster analysis was performed to identify genes encoding potential membrane bound importers and exporters based on expression profiles across the samples for each experiment. Stronger candidates were obtained by comparing genes in each dataset to each other. When comparing all datasets to each other, 223 candidate genes with expression pattern changes consistent with importers were found to be heme-regulated in only 2 datasets, 46 were heme-regulated in 3 datasets and 2 was heme-regulated in all 4 datasets. In contrast, 114 candidate genes with patterns consistent with exporters were common to only 2 datasets, with just 11 present in 3 of the 4 datasets. A large number of genes containing transmembrane domains were isolated across the 4 datasets which showed downregulation or upregulation in response to heme overexposure conditions indicating the possibility that heme membrane bound import and export genes were identified respectively, with the reverse trend observed in the presence of heme deficiency. However, few transporter candidate genes were identified that showed high differential expression (above 4-fold or below 1/4th fold). Ultimately, as few strong candidates were identified by these studies, we consider the possibility that each cell line could have a redundant system of heme import, whereby multiple transport proteins each contribute to the total heme accumulation in the cell. Alternatively, it is possible that these cells lines do not regulate heme transport at the transcript level, but rather do so post-translationally.

ORGANISM(S): Aedes aegypti

PROVIDER: GSE140752 | GEO | 2020/08/03

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes impose a severe global public health burden as primary vectors of multiple viral and parasitic pathogens. Under optimal environmental conditions, Aedes aegypti females have access to human hosts that provide blood proteins for egg development, conspecific males that provide sperm for fertilization, and freshwater that serves as an egg-laying substrate suitable for offspring survival. As global temperatures rise, Aedes aegypti females are faced with climate challenges, like intense droughts and intermittent precipitation, which create unpredictable and suboptimal conditions for the egg-laying step of their reproductive cycle. Aedes aegypti mosquitoes nonetheless show remarkable reproductive resilience, but how they achieve this is unknown. Here we show that under drought-like conditions simulated in the laboratory, mated, blood-fed Aedes aegypti females carrying mature eggs retain them in their ovaries for extended periods, while maintaining the viability of these eggs until they can be deposited in freshwater. Using transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of Aedes aegypti ovaries, we identify two previously uncharacterized genes – here named tweedledee and tweedledum – that show ovary-enriched, temporally-restricted expression during egg retention. These genes are mosquito-specific, linked within a syntenic locus, and rapidly evolving under positive selection, raising the possibility that they serve an adaptive function. Using loss-of-function mutagenesis to disrupt both genes, we show that, tweedledee and tweedledum, which encode secreted proteins, are specifically required for extended retention of viable eggs, such as during intermittent precipitation or drought. These results highlight an elegant example of taxon-restricted genes at the heart of an important adaptation that equips Aedes aegypti females with “insurance” to, when contextually appropriate, flexibly extend their reproductive sequence without losing reproductive capacity, thus allowing this species to exploit diverse and unpredictable habitats.

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Transcriptomic analyses of Aedes aegypti cultured cells upon heme exposure

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