Zhigang Lu

Wellcome Sanger Institute · Parasite Genomics Group

Background Schistosomiasis is a major Neglected Tropical Disease, caused by the infection with blood flukes in the genus Schistosoma . To complete the life cycle, the parasite undergoes asexual and sexual reproduction within an intermediate snail host and a definitive mammalian host, respectively. The intra-molluscan phase provides a critical ampli...

The flatworm Schistosoma mansoni is an important but neglected pathogen that causes the disease schistosomiasis in millions of people worldwide. The parasite has a complex life cycle, undergoing sexual reproduction in a mammalian host and asexual replication in a snail host. Understanding the molecular mechanisms the parasite uses to transition bet...

Background The consequences of the earth’s daily rotation have led to 24-h biological rhythms in most organisms. Even some parasites are known to have daily rhythms, which, when in synchrony with host rhythms, can optimise their fitness. Understanding these rhythms may enable the development of control strategies that take advantage of rhythmic vul...

A large portion of animal and plant genomes consists of non-coding DNA. This part includes tandemly repeated sequences and gained attention because it offers exciting insights into genome biology. We investigated satellite-DNA elements of the platyhelminth Schistosoma mansoni, a parasite with remarkable biological features. S. mansoni lives in the...

Background Schistosoma mansoni is a flatworm that causes a neglected tropical disease affecting millions worldwide. Most flatworms are hermaphrodites but schistosomes have genotypically determined male (ZZ) and female (ZW) sexes. Sex is essential for pathology and transmission, however, the molecular determinants of sex remain unknown and is limite...

Schistosomiasis, the most important helminthic disease of humanity, is caused by infection with parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. The disease is driven by parasite eggs becoming trapped in host tissues, followed by inflammation and granuloma formation. Despite abundant transcriptome data for most developmental stages of the three main h...

Schistosomiasis, the most important helminthic disease of humanity, is caused by infection with parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. The disease is driven by the eggs laid by the parasites and becoming trapped in host tissues, followed by inflammation and granuloma formation. Despite abundant transcriptome data for most developmental stage...

Background The consequences of the earth’s daily rotation have led to 24-hour biological rhythms in most organisms. Even parasites have daily rhythms, which, when in synchrony with host rhythms, optimize their fitness. Understanding these rhythms may enable development of novel control strategies that take advantage of rhythmic vulnerabilities. Rec...

Over 250 million people suffer from schistosomiasis, a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes. Humans become infected by free-swimming, water-borne larvae, which penetrate the skin. The earliest intra-mammalian stage, called the schistosomulum, undergoes a series of developmental transitions. These changes are critical...

Schistosome biology illuminated Schistosomiasis is caused by a parasitic flatworm about which little is known. Therefore, options to combat human disease caused by schistosome infection are limited. To aid in our quest to develop treatments, two studies undertook molecular investigations of the parasite Schistosoma mansoni . By generating a single-...

Schistosomes kill 250,000 people every year and are responsible for serious morbidity in 240 million of the world's poorest people. Despite their profound global impact, only a single drug (praziquantel) is available to treat schistosomiasis, highlighting the need to better understand schistosome biology to drive the development of a new generation...

Over 250 million people suffer from schistosomiasis, a tropical disease caused by parasitic flatworms known as schistosomes. Humans become infected by free-swimming, water-borne larvae, which penetrate the skin. The earliest intra-mammalian stage, called the schistosomulum, undergoes a series of developmental transitions. These changes are critical...

Schistosomes are the only platyhelminths that have evolved separate sexes, and they exhibit a unique reproductive biology because the female's sexual maturation depends on a constant pairing-contact with the male. In the female, pairing leads to gonad differentiation, which is associated with substantial morphological changes, and controls among ot...

Facilitated by the Schistosoma mansoni genome project, multiple transcriptomic studies were performed over the last decade to elucidate gene expression patterns among different developmental stages of the complex schistosome life cycle. While these analyses enable the identification of candidate genes with key functions in schistosome biology, a di...

Schistosomiasis is a human parasitic disease caused by flatworms of the genus Schistosoma. Adult female schistosomes produce numerous eggs that are responsible for the pathogenesis and transmission of the disease, and the maturation of female gonads depends on the permanent pairing of females and males. Signaling protein kinases have been proven to...

Background Since the genome of the parasitic flatworm Schistosoma mansoni was sequenced in 2009, various RNA-seq studies have been conducted to investigate differential gene expression between certain life stages. Based on these studies, the overview of gene expression in all life stages can improve our understanding of S. mansoni genome biology....

RNA-seq approach can provide useful information about gene expression. Although several studies have been conducted in the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, the gene expression data is often limited to differential analysis between certain life stages. A recent meta-analysis of RNA-seq studies generated valuable expression data across all life stages o...

Schistosomes are blood-dwelling trematodes with global impact on human and animal health. Because medical treatment is currently based on a single drug, praziquantel, there is urgent need for the development of alternative control strategies. The Schistosoma mansoni genome project provides a platform to study and connect the genetic repertoire of s...

Updated list of GPCR genes in S. mansoni, their average expression values according to RNA-seq, and predicted orthologs in F. hepatica. GPCR, G protein–coupled receptor. (XLSX)

Relative expression of GPCRs absent of the Lu et al. dataset [32] among different S. mansoni and F. hepatica life stages. GPCR, G protein–coupled receptor. (PDF)

Relative expression of GPCR orthologs in adult stages of F. hepatica and S. mansoni. GPCR, G protein–coupled receptor. (PDF)

In biological research analysis of large data sets, such as RNA-seq gene expression, often involves visualisation of thousands of data points and associated database query. Static charts produced by traditional tools lack the ability to reveal underlying information, and separated database query is laborious and involves a lot of manual effort. Int...

RNA-Seq has proven excellence in providing information about the regulation and transcript levels of genes. We used this method for profiling genes in the flatworm Schistosoma mansoni. This parasite causes schistosomiasis, an infectious disease of global importance for human and animals. The pathology of schistosomiasis is associated with the eggs,...

Single-cell RT-PCR for quick gene expression.

Schistosomes and other parasitic platyhelminths cause infectious diseases of worldwide significance for humans and animals. Despite their medical and economic importance, vaccines are not available and the number of drugs is alarmingly limited. For most platyhelminths including schistosomes, Praziquantel (PZQ) is the commonly used drug. With respec...

As a key event for maintaining life cycles, reproduction is a central part of platyhelminth biology. In case of parasitic platyhelminths, reproductive processes can also contribute to pathology. One representative example is the trematode Schistosoma, which causes schistosomiasis, an infectious disease, whose pathology is associated with egg produc...

In the emerging era of post-genomic research on schistosomes, new methods are required to functionally analyse genes of interest in more detail. Among other tools, schistosome cell lines are needed to overcome present research constraints. Based on a recently established organ isolation protocol for adult Schistosoma mansoni, we report here on the...

In the search for new strategies to fight schistosomiasis, the unique reproductive biology of Schistosoma mansoni has come into the focus of research. The development of the gonads and the ability of egg production are fundamental not only for continuing the life cycle but also for pathogenicity. Previous studies of schistosome biology demonstrated...

Benchtop protocol depicting schematically the whole-organ isolation approach for the preparation of reproductive tissue from Schistosoma mansoni in a pure state. Arrow-headed semicircles with numbers = times of repetition; dashed arrow-headed semicircles = progressive digestion; dashed lines and arrows = appearance of treated worms at the correspon...

Background: Schistosomiasis is one of the most important parasitic diseases worldwide, second only to malaria. Schistosomes exhibit an exceptional reproductive biology since the sexual maturation of the female, which includes the differentiation of the reproductive organs, is controlled by pairing. Pathogenicity originates from eggs, which cause s...

Network 3 of the IPA analysis following Herbimycin A-treatment (q≤0.03). Example of an IPA-based network (no. 3) presenting proteins coded by differentially transcribed genes following Herb A-treatment. These molecules are involved in RNA post-transcriptional modification, DNA replication, recombination as well as repair and energy production. The...

RT-PCR with organ-specific RNA confirmed and complemented in situ-hybridization data. Shown are RT-PCR results with organ-specific RNA of purified testes (lanes 1, 3, 5, 7, 9) and ovaries (lanes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10) indicating the presence of transcripts of hippocalcin (lanes 1, 2), ORAI-1 (lanes 3, 4), the egg-shell precursor gene (lanes 5, 6), and cal...

List of genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following TRIKI-treatment. This list contains all information about genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following TRIKI-treatment (including subdivisions of up- and down-regulated sense and antisense transcripts). (XLSX)

Comparison of differentially transcribed genes following hTGFβ- or TRIKI-treatment. Hierarchical clustering of genes differentially transcribed after either hTGFβ stimulation [27] or TRIKI-induced inhibition of female schistosomes. Each line represents one of 77 genes that were identified to be differentially transcribed in both microarray analyses...

Gene Ontology categories enriched with significantly differentially transcribed genes following Herbimycin A-treatment. Gene Ontology categories are listed enriched with differentially transcribed genes following Herbimycin A-treatment (including up-regulated categories). (XLSX)

Gene Ontology categories enriched with differentially transcribed genes following TRIKI-treatment. Gene Ontology categories are listed enriched with differentially transcribed genes following TRIKI-treatment (including up- and down-regulated categories). (XLSX)

Networks of enriched molecules identified by IPA using the data set of differentially transcribed genes following TRIKI-treatment. This is a list of networks of enriched molecules identified by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) of genes differentially transcribed following TRIKI-treatment. (XLSX)

Networks of enriched molecules identified by IPA using the data set of differentially transcribed genes following Herbimycin A-treatment. This is a list of networks of enriched molecules identified by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) of genes differentially transcribed following Herbimycin A-treatment. (XLSX)

List of genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following Herbimycin A-treatment. This list contains all information on genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following Herbimycin A-treatment (including subdivisions of up- and down-regulated sense and antisense transcripts). (XLSX)

Gene Ontology categories enriched with significantly differentially transcribed genes following combined treatment with TRIKI and Herbimycin A. Gene Ontology categories are listed enriched with differentially transcribed genes following combined TRIKI and Herbimycin A-treatment (including up-regulated categories). (XLSX)

Intersection of significantly differentially transcribed genes following hTGFβ stimulation and TRIKI-treatment. This list contains the intersection of significantly differentially transcribed genes following hTGFβ stimulation and TRIKI-treatment subdivided in “overlap”, “different regulation”, and “same regulation” categories. (XLSX)

Networks of enriched molecules identified by IPA using the data set of differentially transcribed genes following combined treatment with TRIKI and Herbimycin A. This is a list of networks of enriched molecules identified by Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) of genes differentially transcribed following combined TRIKI and Herbimycin A-treatment. (XL...

Intersections of genes differentially transcribed following treatment with TRIKI and Herbimycin A. This list contains all intersections from the single as well as the combined treatments with TRIKI and/or Herbimycin A (4 subdivisions). (XLSX)

List of genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following combined treatment with Herbimycin A and TRIKI. This list contains genes found to be significantly differentially transcribed following combined treatment with Herbimycin A and TRIKI (including subdivisions of up- and down-regulated sense and antisense transcripts). (XLSX)

List of primers used for qPCR. (DOCX)

Schistosome parasites cause schistosomiasis, one of the most prevalent parasitemias worldwide affecting humans and animals. Constant pairing of schistosomes is essential for female sexual maturation and egg production, which causes pathogenesis. Female maturation involves signaling pathways controlling mitosis and differentiation within the gonads....

To improve the yield of cellulose production in bacteria, we investigated the stimulatory effects of six different alcohols during fermentation of Acetobacter xylinum 186. Our study showed that after static fermentation at 30°C for 6days, bacterial culture with 1.0% (v/v) of methanol added in the medium produced the highest bacterial cellulose (BC)...