Analysis of gene clusters of Shistosoma mansoni involved in parasite differentiation and infection of the host

• Grant number: 14/26061-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 01, 2016
• End date: June 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Biochemistry - Molecular Biology
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo de Marco
• Grantee: Ricardo de Marco
• Host Investigator: Laurence Daniel Hurst
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física de São Carlos (IFSC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Bath, England

Abstract

The project presented here aims to to study the correlation between gene order and expression in the genome of organims from Schistosoma genera, with special emphasis in Schistosoma mansoni. Although this question has been addressed by the host research group in other models, organisms of the Schistosoma genera display peculiarities, such as transitions between very different forms in its life cycle, including parasitic forms in two different hosts. Therefore, the evolutionary pressure suffered by these organisms are very different from the previously studied models and it is expected that this project may provide answers to fundamental questions of the genome biology, as well as specific questions related to the process of differentiation and parasitism of this genera. (AU)