Figure 5.

Potential mechanisms involved in production of schistosome transmission stage. our genetic analysis of transmission stage production and virulence in S. mansoni parasites revealed that this complex trait is controlled by five loci with potentially different mechanisms involved to induce and maintain cercarial production over time. this could involve (i) the differentiation of sporocysts cells into cercariae through the calmodulin calcium sensor (chr. 5) (ii) the maintenance of the clonal reproduction of sporocysts and the continuous cercarial production through the G protein (chr. 3) and the nucleoporin (chr. 2), and (iii) the modulation of the snail immune response to protect parasitic cells through the pPIase (chr. 1) and the G protein (chr. 3). the LYAR cell growth protein (chr. 4) could also be involved all along the patent period to regulate the growth and multiplication of sporocysts cells and the development of cercariae. the proteins of unknown function are also of high interest: they could reveal new mechanisms involved in transmission/virulence