Project description:Schistocephalus solidus is a cestode parasite that is thought to manipulate the behaviour of its threespine stickleback host Gasterosteus aculeatus. It has been hypothesized that the worm could liberate in its external environment “manipulation factors” that would ultimately interfere with the host’s physiology and behaviour. The objective of this project is to describe the whole proteomic content of the proteome and of the secretome of a putative manipulative parasite, Schistocephalus solidus, with the aim to identify proteins that could be involved in the behavioural perturbations of the threespine stickleback.
Project description:The protein composition of the cestode Schistocephalus solidus was measured in an experiment simulating the transition of the parasite from a cold-blooded to a warm-blooded host. Infective S. solidus plerocercoids obtained from the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus were heated at 40 °C for 1 hour or cultured in vitro at 40 °C and 22 °C for 48 hours. Plerocercoids taken out from the body cavity of sticklebacks immediately after their sacrifice were used as a reference group.
Project description:The aim of this study was to describe the excretory–secretory proteins from the helminth Schistocephalus solidus and its intermediate host, the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus L., which are likely to be involved in interactions between them. Combined samples of washes from the G. aculeatus sticklebacks cavity infected with the S. solidus, and washes from the parasite surface were used as experimental samples (samples 5 to 8), while washes from the uninfected fish body cavity were used as control (samples 1 to 4). The obtained samples were analyzed using mass-spectrometry nLC–MS/MS.
Project description:Genomic assembly of cestode Schistocephalus solidus, as part of the 50 Helminth Genomes Initiative sequencing of the parasitic worms that have the greatest impact on human, agricultural and veterinary disease and cause significant global health issues particularly in the developing world, or those used as model organisms.
Project description:BackgroundManipulative parasites are thought to liberate molecules in their external environment, acting as manipulation factors with biological functions implicated in their host's physiological and behavioural alterations. These manipulation factors are part of a complex mixture called the secretome. While the secretomes of various parasites have been described, there is very little data for a putative manipulative parasite. It is necessary to study the molecular interaction between a manipulative parasite and its host to better understand how such alterations evolve.MethodsHere, we used proteomics to characterize the secretome of a model cestode with a complex life cycle based on trophic transmission. We studied Schistocephalus solidus during the life stage in which behavioural changes take place in its obligatory intermediate fish host, the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We produced a novel genome sequence and assembly of S. solidus to improve protein coding gene prediction and annotation for this parasite. We then described the whole worm's proteome and its secretome during fish host infection using LC-MS/MS.ResultsA total of 2290 proteins were detected in the proteome of S. solidus, and 30 additional proteins were detected specifically in the secretome. We found that the secretome contains proteases, proteins with neural and immune functions, as well as proteins involved in cell communication. We detected receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatases, which were reported in other parasitic systems to be manipulation factors. We also detected 12 S. solidus-specific proteins in the secretome that may play important roles in host-parasite interactions.ConclusionsOur results suggest that S. solidus liberates molecules with putative host manipulation functions in the host and that many of them are species-specific.