The adult female worm resides within the adult male worms gynaecophoric canal, which is a modification of the ventral surface of the male, forming a groove. The paired worms move against the flow of blood to their final niche in the mesenteric circulation, where they begin egg production (>32 days). The S. mansoni parasites are found predominantly in the small inferior mesenteric blood vessels surrounding the large intestine and caecal region of the host. Each female lays approximately 300 eggs a day (one egg every 4.8 minutes), which are deposited on the endothelial lining of the venous capillary walls. Most of the body mass of female schistosomes is devoted to the reproductive system. The female converts the equivalent of almost her own body dry weight into eggs each day. The eggs move into the lumen of the hosts intestines and are released into the environment with the faeces. Genome
Schistosoma mansoni has 8 pairs of chromosomes (2n = 16)—7 autosomal pairs and 1 sex pair. The female schistosome is heterogametic, or ZW, and the male is homogametic, or ZZ. Sex is determined in the zygote by a chromosomal mechanism. The genome is approximately 270 MB with a GC content of 34%, 4–8% highly repetitive sequence, 32–36% middle repetitive sequence and 60% single copy sequence. Numerous highly or moderately repetitive elements are identified, with at least 30% repetitive DNA. Chromosomes range in size from 18 to 73 MB and can be distinguished by size, shape, and C banding.In 2000, the first BAC library of Schistosome was constructed.
In June 2003, a ~5x whole genome shotgun sequencing project was initiated at the Sanger Institute. Also in 2003, 163,000 ESTs (expressed sequence tags) were generated (by a consortium headed by the University of São Paulo) from six selected developmental stages of this parasite, resulting in 31,000 assembled sequences and an estimated 92% of the 14,000-gene complement.In 2009 the genomes of both S. mansoni and S. japonicum were published, with each describing 11,809 and 13,469 genes, respectively. S. mansoni genome has increased protease families and deficiencies in lipid anabolism; which are attributed its parasitic adaptation. Portease included the invadolysin (host penetration) and cathepsin (blood-feeding) gene families.In 2012, an improved version of the S. mansoni genome was published, which consisted of only 885 scaffolds and more than 81% of the bases organised into chromosomes.In 2019, Ittiprasert, Brindley and colleagues employed programmed CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the gene encoding the T2 ribonuclease of the egg of Schistosoma mansoni, advancing functional genomics and reverse genetics in the study of schistosomes, and platyhelminths generally <https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.41337>. Pathology
Schistosome eggs, which may become lodged within the hosts tissues, are the major cause of pathology in schistosomiasis. Some of the deposited eggs reach the outside environment by passing through the wall of the intestine; the rest are swept into the circulation and are filtered out in the periportal tracts of the liver, resulting in periportal fibrosis. Onset of egg laying in humans is sometimes associated with an onset of fever (Katayama fever).