Dynamic transcriptome surveys revealed that biogenic amines and insect-like hormonal regulation are involved in Schistosoma japonicum pairing and reproductive development. Schistosoma japonicum strain:Anhui | isolate:female-1

The mechanism of male-induced female sexual development and maturation is a fundamental question of development in schistosomes. Here we defined successive developmental stages including pre-pairing, pairing and maturation of the male and female S. japonicum during their interplay. Through RNA-Seq, we mapped the detailed transcriptomic profiles of both sexes across 8 time points from 14-28 dpi, obtaining 23,099 transcripts by de novo transcriptome assembly. The dynamic transcriptional profiles demonstrated obviously sex-related characteristics, which revealed a clear process of labor-division during male-female interplay. Cluster analysis and in situ hybridization indicated that males appeared to employ the biogenic amine neurotransmitters through the nervous system to control and maintain the pairing activity with females. In females, we identified an insect-like hormonal regulation mechanism on the reproductive development. This dataset, along with our initial analysis results, will serve as a foundation to further our understanding of the sexual development in schistosomes.