The Schistosoma mansoni nuclear receptor FTZ-F1 maintains esophageal gland function via direct transcriptional regulation of meg-8.3

The schistosome homolog of ftz-f1 is a nuclear receptor. In order to understand the function of Smftz-f1, we performed RNAseq with samples taken on two days, Day 5 and Day 9, on either control (RNAi) or Smftz-f1 (RNAi) parasites to see the transcriptional consequences of Smftz-f1 RNAi and to find potential transcriptional targets. Adult male parasites were treated with either control dsRNA or Smftz-f1-targeting dsRNA and taken at two different time points (Day 5 and Day 9), then subjected to RNAseq.