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Infection and Immunity, January 2006, p. 340-351, Vol. 74, No. 1
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.74.1.340-351.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Identification of Differentially Expressed Genes in Virulent and Nonvirulent Entamoeba Species: Potential Implications for Amebic Pathogenesis {dagger}

Ryan C. MacFarlane1 and Upinder Singh1,2*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5124,1 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-51242

Received 14 May 2005/ Returned for modification 4 July 2005/ Accepted 4 October 2005

Entamoeba histolytica is a protozoan parasite that causes colitis and liver abscesses. Several Entamoeba species and strains with differing levels of virulence have been identified. E. histolytica HM-1:IMSS is a virulent strain, E. histolytica Rahman is a nonvirulent strain, and Entamoeba dispar is a nonvirulent species. We used an E. histolytica DNA microarray consisting of 2,110 genes to assess the transcriptional differences between these species/strains with the goal of identifying genes whose expression correlated with a virulence phenotype. We found 415 genes expressed at lower levels in E. dispar and 32 genes with lower expression in E. histolytica Rahman than in E. histolytica HM-1:IMSS. Overall, 29 genes had decreased expression in both the nonvirulent species/strains than the virulent E. histolytica HM-1:IMSS. Interestingly, a number of genes with potential roles in stress response and virulence had decreased expression in either one or both nonvirulent Entamoeba species/strains. These included genes encoding Fe hydrogenase (9.m00419), peroxiredoxin (176.m00112), type A flavoprotein (6.m00467), lysozyme (6.m00454), sphingomyelinase C (29.m00231), and a hypothetical protein with homology to both a Plasmodium sporozoite threonine-asparagine-rich protein (STARP) and a streptococcal hemagglutinin (238.m00054). The function of these genes in Entamoeba and their specific roles in parasite virulence need to be determined. We also found that a number of the non-long-terminal-repeat retrotransposons (EhLINEs and EhSINEs), which have been shown to modulate gene expression and genomic evolution, had lower expression in the nonvirulent species/strains than in E. histolytica HM-1:IMSS. Our results, identifying expression profiles and patterns indicative of a virulence phenotype, may be useful in characterizing the transcriptional framework of virulence.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, S-143 Grant Building, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305. Phone: (650) 723-4045. Fax: (650) 724-3892. E-mail: usingh{at}stanford.edu.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.

Infection and Immunity, January 2006, p. 340-351, Vol. 74, No. 1
0019-9567/06/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.74.1.340-351.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



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