PhD Oral Defense: Iron Acquisition in the Adult Filarial Nematode Brugia malayi and the Effect of Ivermectin on Heme Binding Proteins and the Transcriptome
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PhD Oral Defense of Cristina Ballesteros, Institute of Parasitology
Human filarial nematode infections caused by Wucheria bancrofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori can lead to lymphatic filariasis (LF), and those due to Onchocerca volvulus can lead to onchocerciasis or river blindness, affecting millions of people in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Brugia malayi has been an excellent model to study human filarial diseases, in particular by employing culture systems, the impact of which on the parasites is unknown. One of our objectives was to evaluate changes in gene expression due to in vitro cultivation of Brugia malayi, as an index of adaptation to removal from the host. We examined the global transcriptome of this parasite by Illumina sequencing technology from the time the parasites were extracted from jirds in Georgia (USA), shipped to Montreal (Canada), and after maintenance for up to 5 days in culture. It was important to assess the effects of culture on the parasite prior to measuring the effects of exposure to drugs such as ivermectin.
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