A male-derived non-ribosomal peptide pheromone controls female schistosome development

gli1 is a gene in the male S. mansoni required for female sexual development. As a putative transcription factor, RNAseq comparing pairs with gli1 knocked-down or control males was performed to look for the genes which are trancriptionally regulated by gli1. sm-nrps was one of the essential candidate discovered in this analysis that has been characterized in the same publication, revealing a pheromone directed novel mechanism of female schistosome sexual development. Overall design: RNA sequencing of virgin male/female schistosome parasites after 3 days of pairing or no-contact co-culture under the condtion of pairing with gli RNAi males or control RNAi males.