Epigenetic and metabolic reprogramming of innate immune cells establishes immunological memory in the Schistosomiasis vector snail Biomphalaria glabrata.
Innate immune memory enables non-vertebrates to mount faster and more effective immune responses upon re-exposure to a previously encountered pathogen, yet its cellular and molecular bases remain poorly understood. The freshwater snail Biomphalaria glabrata, intermediate host of the human parasite Schistosoma mansoni, provides a powerful model to investigate this phenomenon. Here, we show that innate immune memory in B. glabrata is carried by hemocytes and relies on profound metabolic and epigenetic reprogramming initiated during primary infection. Using an integrative multi-omics approach combining transcriptomics, chromatin accessibility profiling, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing and targeted metabolomics, we reveal that the first parasite encounter induces a stable rewiring of hemocyte metabolism and chromatin landscape. This reprogramming primes hemocytes for a massive and rapid transcriptional response upon secondary challenge, characterized by an immune shift toward highly specific humoral effector pathways. Metabolic analyses demonstrate an early switch toward aerobic glycolysis, altered tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and amino acid metabolism, consistent with a Warburg-like metabolic state previously described in vertebrate trained immunity. Notably, metabolic and epigenetic remodeling occurs primarily during the primary infection and remains stable upon secondary exposure, suggesting that immune memory is encoded prior to pathogen re-encounter. Together, our results identify conserved metabolic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying innate immune memory in a non-vertebrate host and provide direct evidence that hemocyte-mediated innate immune memory in B. glabrata shares core features with trained immunity described in vertebrates.