Quantitative analysis of gene expression in Pomacea canaliculata infected with Angiostrongylus cantonensis and α - tubulin gene expression in various tissues / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志
Objective To investigate the expression of some genes in Pomacea canaliculata infected with Angiostrongylus cantonensis, so as to provide insight into the preliminary understanding of the interactions between Angiostrongylus cantonensis and its intermediate host Pomacea canaliculata. Methods P. canaliculata was fed with ratfaces containing the first-stage larvae of A. cantonensis. Three to five P. canaliculata was sampled 1, 10 days and 20 days after feeding, and the hemolymph, hepatopancreas, kidney, intestinal tract, head-foot and gilltissues were collected, while uninfected P. canaliculata served as controls. Total RNA was extracted from various tissues of P. canaliculata at different time points post-infection, and transcribed reversely into cDNA. Based on previous transcriptome sequencing results, 10 genes associated with immune defense, signal transduction, cellgrowth and metabolism, stress response were selected, and the gene expression was determined in the hemolymphtissues of P. canaliculata 1, 10 days and 20 days post-infection with A. cantonensis using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR assay, and the α-tubulingene expression was quantified in the hepatopancreas, kidney, head-foot, intestinal tract and gilltissues of P. canaliculata infected with A. cantonensis. Results Higher CELA1 gene expression was detected in the infection group than in the control group 1 (t = 12.32, P < 0.05), 10 days (t = 23.51, P < 0.05) and 20 days post-infection (t = 34.92, P < 0.05), and the CELA1 expression increased with the time of infection. The GST gene expression was (7.26 ± 1.80) times higher in the infection group than in the control group 1 day post-infection, and was significantly lower in the infection group than in the control group 10 days (t = 23.89, P < 0.05) and 20 days post-infection (t = 19.83, P < 0.05). Higher ferritingene expression was found in the infection group than in the control group 10 days post-infection (t = 32.76, P < 0.05), and higher CRT gene expression was seen in the infection group than in the control group 1 (t = 7.23, P < 0.05), 10 days (t = 5.78, P < 0.05) and 20 days post-infection (t = 6.32, P < 0.05). In addition, the greatest α-tubulingene expression was observed in the the hepatopancreatic tissues of P. canaliculata (F = 17.58, P < 0.05), and the α-tubulingene expression altered in various tissues of P. canaliculata post-infection with A. cantonensis, with the most remarkable reduction of α - tubulingene expression seen in the hepatopancreatic tissues (P < 0.05). Conclusions Following A. cantonensis infection in P. canaliculata, the expression of multiple genes is altered, and the expression of α-tubulingene is inhibited in multiple tissues. The findings provide a basis for the further elucidation of the interactions between P. canaliculata and A. cantonensis.