Teladorsagia circumcincta (Nematoda: Trichostrongylidae) is a nematode parasitizing mallow in wide range of domestic and wild ruminants. In temperate climate it is considered as economically important parasite of sheep and goats, which is one of the originators of the parasitic gastroenteritis.

Hypobiosis is the adaptation phenomenon allowing a parasite to survive periods of adverse environmental conditions in a host, in a anabiosis state. Despite the epizootiological significance of hypobiosis is known for many decades and patterns of detained endogenous development have been described in many parts of the world, the molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon are not yet sufficiently understood. So called dauer larva is much more extensively studied similar adaptation phenomenon, which occurs in saprophytic soil nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Results of previous studies focused on the study of the suspended development are ambiguous and regulatory mechanisms leading to hypobiosis still remain unclear.

1. Analyze microarray gene expression data and process the results – hybridization of chip for Caenorhabditis elegans RNA with RNA samples isolated from Teladorsagia circumcinta (microarrays).
2. Compare results of gene expression (microarrays) with proteomic data (mass spectrometry) reflecting the protein composition of excretory-secretory products of T. circumcinta.
3. Validate and explore in more detail presence of the proteins encoded by the genes daf-7, daf-16, daf-1, daf-4 and daf-2 (involved in the regulation of dauer process signaling cascades in saprophytic nematodes) in T. Circumcinta hypobiotic larvae using bioinformatic methods.
4. Carry out a phylogenetic analysis of gene sequences daf-7, daf-16, daf-1, daf-4 and daf-2 in order to detect their genetic variability in related organisms using hypobiosis process.