PHB1 and infection: In order to investigate and confirm the biological function of the identified DEGs between S_F vs. B_F and S_M vs. B_M involved in the regulation of the growth and development of schistosomes, we silenced the expression of S. japonicum Phb1 gene (SjPhb1, Sjp_0046680), the function of which was predicted to be important in the development and reproduction of schistosomes, as above, using dsRNA-mediated RNAi in vivo through a mouse tail vein injection immediately after infection (Wang J. et al., 2017; Li et al., 2018).