Epididymis of mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma infection can cause damage to the male reproductive system, such as sexual dysfunction and infertility. The epididymis is an important accessory organ of male reproductive system, where sperm maturation and storage take place. Sperm maturation in the epididymis is a highly programmed process, which may be affected by the epididymis microenvironment. Therefore, studying the epididymis characteristics is important for identification of factors affecting sperm maturation. However, studies investigating the differential expression genes of host and Toxoplasma gondii by transcriptome sequencing of the male reproductive system are limited. The main objective of this study was to examine differential gene expression by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) technology in order to identify key genes associated with Toxoplasma gondii (PRU strain) chronic infection of the epididymis in male Kunming mice.