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Background   Toxocara canis  is quite closely related to  Ascaris suum  but its biology is more complex, involving a phase of arrested development (diapause or hypobiosis) in tissues as well as transplacental and transmammary transmission routes. In the present study, we explored and compared dauer-like signalling pathways of  T. canis  and  A. suum  to infer which components in these pathways might associate with, or regulate, this added complexity in  T. canis .    Methods  Guided by information for  Caenorhabditis elegans , we bioinformatically inferred and compared components of dauer-like signalling pathways in  T. canis  and  A. suum  using genomic and transcriptomic data sets. In these two ascaridoids, we also explored endogenous dafachronic acids (DAs), which are known to be critical in regulating larval developmental processes in  C. elegans  and other nematodes, by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS).    Results  Orthologues of  C. elegans  dauer signalling genes were identified in  T. canis  ( n  = 55) and  A. suum  ( n  = 51), inferring the presence of a dauer-like signalling pathway in both species. Comparisons showed clear differences between  C. elegans  and these ascaridoids as well as between  T. canis  and  A. suum , particularly in the transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and insulin-like signalling pathways. Specifically, in both  A. suum  and  T. canis , there was a paucity of genes encoding SMAD transcription factor-related protein ( daf-3 ,  daf-5 ,  daf-8  and  daf-14 ) and insulin/insulin-like peptide ( daf-28 ,  ins-4 ,  ins-6  and  ins-7 ) homologues, suggesting an evolution and adaptation of the signalling pathway in these parasites. In  T. canis , there were more orthologues coding for homologues of antagonist insulin-like peptides ( Tc-ins-1  and  Tc-ins-18 ), an insulin receptor substrate ( Tc-ist-1 ) and a serine/threonine kinase ( Tc-akt-1 ) than in  A. suum , suggesting potentiated functional roles for these molecules in regulating larval diapause and reactivation. A relatively conserved machinery was proposed for DA synthesis in the two ascaridoids, and endogenous Δ4- and Δ7-DAs were detected in them by LC-MS analysis. Differential transcription analysis between  T. canis  and  A. suum  suggests that  ins-17  and  ins-18  homologues are specifically involved in regulating development and migration in  T. canis  larvae in host tissues.    Conclusion  The findings of this study provide a basis for functional explorations of insulin-like peptides, signalling hormones (i.e. DAs) and related nuclear receptors, proposed to link to development and/or parasite-host interactions in  T. canis . Elucidating the functional roles of these molecules might contribute to the discovery of novel anthelmintic targets in ascaridoids.    Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (10.1186/s13071-018-3265-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

parasites and vectors

Comparative bioinformatic analysis suggests that specific dauer-like signalling pathway components regulate Toxocara canis development and migration in the mammalian host