Visualization of toxin gene expression patterns in ribbon worm tissue sections by spatial transcriptomics


SOCIETY FOR INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE BIOLOGY
2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING (VAM)
January 3 – Febuary 28, 2021

Meeting Abstract


29-1  Sat Jan 2  Visualization of toxin gene expression patterns in ribbon worm tissue sections by spatial transcriptomics Verdes, A*; Saarenpää, S; Junoy, J; Riesgo, A; Giacomello, S; Natural History Museum, UK and Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain; Science for Life Laboratory, Sweden; Universidad de Alcalá, Spain; Natural History Museum, UK and Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain; Science for Life Laboratory, Sweden aida.verdes@gmail.com

Ribbon worms (Nemertea) are active predators that use a proboscis to inject toxins into prey and defend themselves with toxic epidermal mucus. Nemerteans do not have distinct multi-cellular venom glands, instead toxins are secreted by cells lining the body wall and proboscis epithelia. The lack of a distinct gland has prevented the use of traditional venomics approaches to investigate their venom. Spatial Transcriptomics (ST) is a novel technology that allows to visualize and quantify transcriptomes within histological sections at 100 μm resolution. It facilitates the identification of toxins and their distribution within the tissue, revealing venom composition and producing tissue simultaneously. We adapted the method to analyze cryosections of 3 biological replicates from the species Cerebratulus marginatus, obtaining 3.5 million UMIs per replicate. After dimensionality reduction and clustering of RNA expression data, we identified 9 clusters linked to specific histological features. Proboscis and epidermis were the most distinct clusters, suggesting their profiles might be driven by toxin genes not expressed elsewhere. We mapped the expression data of mucus toxins such as nemertide alpha-1 and cytotoxin A-III on the tissue, revealing their distribution is not restricted to the epidermis. We also identified genes differentially expressed in the glandular epithelium of the proboscis, which may represent novel predatory toxins. Our findings suggest there is a hidden diversity of nemertean toxins and illustrate the capability of ST to investigate challenging venomous organisms, such as those without distinct venom glands or where venom cannot be milked.

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