Transcriptomic Analysis of Early Stages of Intestinal Regeneration in Holothuria glaberrima

Echinoderms comprise a group of animals with impressive regenerative capabilities. They can replace complex internal organs following injury or autotomy. In holothurians or sea cucumbers, cellular processes of intestinal regeneration have been extensively studied. The molecular machinery behind this faculty, however, remains to be understood. Here we assembled and annotated a de novo transcriptome using RNA-seq data consisting of regenerating and non-regenerating intestinal tissues from the sea cucumber Holothuria glaberrima. Comparisons of differential expression were made using the mesentery as a reference against 24 hour and 3 days regenerating intestine, revealing a large number of differentially expressed transcripts. Gene ontology and pathway enrichment analysis showed evidence of increasing transcriptional activity. Further analysis of transcripts associated with transcription factors revealed diverse expression patterns with mechanisms involving developmental and cancer-related activity that could be related to the regenerative process. Our study demonstrates the broad and diversified gene expression profile during the early stages of the process using the mesentery as the focal point of intestinal regeneration. It also establishes the genes that are the most important candidates in the cellular processes that underlie regenerative responses.