Differential methylation in discrete developmental stages of the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis

We present the first study to confirm the existence of DNA methylation in the parasitic nematode Trichinella spiralis, and we characterize the methylomes of the three life-cycle stages of this food-borne infectious human pathogen. We observe a drastic increase in DNA methylation during the transition from the new born to mature stage, and we further identify parasitism-related genes that show changes in DNA methylation status between life cycle stages. We also evaluated differential gene expression among the three life stages using Illumina HiSeq 2000 RNA-seq technology. Overall design: Examination of DNA methylation status and gene expression status in three life stages (Adult, muscle larvae, newborn larvae) of Trchinella Spiralis using MethylC-seq.