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Leishmania spp. is the causal agent of several diseases called leishmaniases, neglected diseases that seek to be eradicated in the coming years. We aimed to study the genomic structure and function of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) from Leishmania spp. and to get insights into its RNAome. We studied 26 strains corresponding to 16 different species of Leishmania genus. RNAome analysis revealed the presence of several ncRNAs that are shared through different species, allowing us to differentiate between subgenus and as well as species that are canonically related to visceral leishmaniasis. We found coexpression relationships within coding genes and ncRNAs, thus suggesting possible functional relationships between different coding genes-ncRNAs. Expression analysis in the metacyclic developmental stage comparison for Leishmania braziliensis and Leishmania major reveals the presence of shared coexpressed ncRNAs to several other coding genes in both species involved in chromatin structure and host interaction. This work constitutes the first effort to characterize the Leishmania RNAome, supporting further approaches to better understand the role of ncRNAs in the gene regulation, infective process and host-parasite interaction. AUTHOR SUMMARYLeishmaniasis is a worldwide tropical neglected disease, which is endemic in several countries of America, Africa, Asia and Europe. Leishmania parasites are transmitted to mammal hosts by the bite of female sandflies. Currently, more than one million of the new infections are reported mainly in the Americas, the Mediterranean basin, the Middle East and Central Asia. The genomic knowledge of these parasites have increased since the first draft genome was published in 2005, however the role of non-coding RNAs in pathogenesis and development is still an open avenue. Here we use a system and comparative genomic approach to characterize and predict the function of the whole ncRNA repertoire in Leishmania parasites. Although Leishmania presents a large amount of ncRNA, there is a low conservation rate, however it is directly proportional to phylogenetic relationships. We also found that this conserved ncRNA was related to histone regulation and proteophosphoglycan ppg3 co-expression. Our study provides new insights in our knowledge about function and expression patterns of ncRNA and their relationship with Leishmania chromatin regulation and virulence. |
