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Heat Stress Reduces the Susceptibility of Caenorhabditis elegans to Orsay Virus Infection.

ABSTRACT: The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a versatile model for understanding the molecular responses to abiotic stress and pathogens. In particular, the response to heat stress and virus infection has been studied in detail. The Orsay virus (OrV) is a natural virus of C. elegans and infection leads to intracellular infection and proteostatic stress, which activates the intracellular pathogen response (IPR). IPR related gene expression is regulated by the genes pals-22 and pals-25, which also control thermotolerance and immunity against other natural pathogens. So far, we have a limited understanding of the molecular responses upon the combined exposure to heat stress and virus infection. We test the hypothesis that the response of C. elegans to OrV infection and heat stress are co-regulated and may affect each other. We conducted a combined heat-stress-virus infection assay and found that after applying heat stress, the susceptibility of C. elegans to OrV was decreased. This difference was found across different wild types of C. elegans. Transcriptome analysis revealed a list of potential candidate genes associated with heat stress and OrV infection. Subsequent mutant screens suggest that pals-22 provides a link between viral response and heat stress, leading to enhanced OrV tolerance of C. elegans after heat stress.

SUBMITTER: Huang Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8392475 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Heat Stress Reduces the Susceptibility of Caenorhabditis elegans to Orsay Virus Infection.

Huang Yuqing Y Sterken Mark G MG van Zwet Koen K van Sluijs Lisa L Pijlman Gorben P GP Kammenga Jan E JE

Genes 20210728 8

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a versatile model for understanding the molecular responses to abiotic stress and pathogens. In particular, the response to heat stress and virus infection has been studied in detail. The Orsay virus (OrV) is a natural virus of C. elegans and infection leads to intracellular infection and proteostatic stress, which activates the intracellular pathogen response (IPR). IPR related gene expression is regulated by the genes pals-22 an ...[more]

PMID: 34440335

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Project description:UNLABELLED:Antiviral RNA-mediated silencing (RNA interference [RNAi]) acts as a powerful innate immunity defense in plants, invertebrates, and mammals. In Caenorhabditis elegans, RNAi is systemic; i.e., RNAi silencing signals can move between cells and tissues. Furthermore, RNAi effects can be inherited transgenerationally and may last for many generations. Neither the biological relevance of systemic RNAi nor transgenerational RNAi is currently understood. Here we examined the role of both pathways in the protection of C. elegans from viral infection. We studied the Orsay virus, a positive-strand RNA virus related to Nodaviridae and the first and only virus known to infect C. elegans. Immunity to Orsay virus infection requires the RNAi pathway. Surprisingly, we found that genes required for systemic or transgenerational RNAi did not have a role in antiviral defense. Furthermore, we found that Orsay virus infection did not elicit a systemic RNAi response even when a target for RNAi was provided by using transgenes. Finally, we show that viral siRNAs, the effectors of RNAi, are not inherited to a level that provides any significant resistance to viral infection in the next generation. We conclude that systemic or transgenerational RNAi does not play a role in the defense against natural Orsay virus infection. Furthermore, our data suggest that there is a qualitative difference between experimental RNAi and antiviral RNAi. Our data are consistent with a model of systemic and transgenerational RNAi that requires a nuclear or germ line component that is lacking in almost all RNA virus infections. IMPORTANCE:Since its discovery in Caenorhabditis elegans, RNAi has proven a valuable scientific tool in many organisms. In C. elegans, exogenous RNAi spreads throughout the organism and can be passed between generations; however, there has been controversy as to the endogenous role(s) that the RNAi pathway plays. One endogenous role for which spreading both within the infected organism and between generations would be advantageous is a role in viral defense. In plants, antiviral RNAi is systemic and the spread of RNAi between cells provides protection against subsequent viral infection. Here we investigated this by using the only naturally occurring virus known to infect C. elegans, Orsay virus, and surprisingly found that, in contrast to the exogenous RNAi pathway, the antiviral RNAi response targeted against this virus does not spread systemically throughout the organism and cannot be passed between generations. These results suggest that there are differences between the two pathways that remain to be discovered.

Project description:Host-pathogen interactions play a major role in evolutionary selection and shape natural genetic variation. The genetically distinct Caenorhabditis elegans strains, Bristol N2 and Hawaiian CB4856, are differentially susceptible to the Orsay virus (OrV). Here, we report the dissection of the genetic architecture of susceptibility to OrV infection. We compare OrV infection in the relatively resistant wild-type CB4856 strain to the more susceptible canonical N2 strain. To gain insight into the genetic architecture of viral susceptibility, 52 fully sequenced recombinant inbred lines (CB4856 × N2 RILs) were exposed to OrV. This led to the identification of two loci on chromosome IV associated with OrV resistance. To verify the two loci and gain additional insight into the genetic architecture controlling virus infection, introgression lines (ILs) that together cover chromosome IV, were exposed to OrV. Of the 27 ILs used, 17 had an CB4856 introgression in an N2 background, and 10 had an N2 introgression in a CB4856 background. Infection of the ILs confirmed and fine-mapped the locus underlying variation in OrV susceptibility, and we found that a single nucleotide polymorphism in cul-6 may contribute to the difference in OrV susceptibility between N2 and CB4856. An allele swap experiment showed the strain CB4856 became as susceptible as the N2 strain by having an N2 cul-6 allele, although having the CB4856 cul-6 allele did not increase resistance in N2. In addition, we found that multiple strains with nonoverlapping introgressions showed a distinct infection phenotype from the parental strain, indicating that there are punctuated locations on chromosome IV determining OrV susceptibility. Thus, our findings reveal the genetic complexity of OrV susceptibility in C. elegans and suggest that viral susceptibility is governed by multiple genes.IMPORTANCE Genetic variation determines the viral susceptibility of hosts. Yet, pinpointing which genetic variants determine viral susceptibility remains challenging. Here, we have exploited the genetic tractability of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans to dissect the genetic architecture of Orsay virus infection. Our results provide novel insight into natural determinants of Orsay virus infection.

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Heat Stress Reduces the Susceptibility of Caenorhabditis elegans to Orsay Virus Infection.

Publications

Heat Stress Reduces the Susceptibility of <i>Caenorhabditis elegans</i> to Orsay Virus Infection.

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