Derived from Less-Susceptible Host Water Buffalo and Susceptible Host Goat

growth and development. To identify genes that may affect schistosome development and survival, we compared gene expression profiles of schistosomes derived from these two natural hosts using high-throughput microarray technology. infection for 7 weeks. Besides obvious morphological difference between the schistosomes derived from the two hosts, differences were also observed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Microarray analysis showed differentially expressed gene patterns for parasites from the two hosts, which revealed that genes related to lipid and nucleotide metabolism, as well as protein folding, sorting, and degradation were upregulated, while others associated with signal transduction, endocrine function, development, immune function, endocytosis, and amino acid/carbohydrate/glycan metabolism were downregulated in schistosomes from water buffalo. KEGG pathway analysis deduced that the differentially expressed genes mainly involved lipid metabolism, the MAPK and ErbB signaling pathways, progesterone-mediated oocyte maturation, dorso-ventral axis formation, reproduction, and endocytosis, etc. host compatibility to better understand the interplay between natural hosts and parasites, and identify schistosome target genes associated with susceptibility to screen vaccine candidates