Project description:This research investigates the molecular mechanisms of trait deterioration of two experimental lines of entamopathogenic nematodes, an inbred line (L5M) and its original parental line (OHB), created by sub-culturing different experimental lines of the nematode-bacterium complex over 20 passages in insect hosts. These lines differed in their virulence, heat tolerance and fecundity . Transcriptional profiles of the two experimental lines were determined and select differentially expressed genes were validated by quantitative PCR. Samples from four biological replicates each of the parental strain (OHB) and the laboratory strain (L5M) were hybridized to the custom H. bacteriophora arrays.
Project description:We report the application of next generation RNA sequencing to analyze the transcriptional response of Drosophila adult flies to infection by the insect pathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and their mutualistic bacteria Photorhabdus luminescens, either separately or together. We find that Heterorhabditis and Photorhabdus differentially modulate a large number of genes, many of which participate in metabolic functions, stress responses, repression of gene transcription and neuronal activities. We have also identified Drosophila genes with potential role in nematode recognition and others with putative anti-nematode properties. These findings generate novel insights into how the host immune function is shaped to respond against nematode parasites and their associated bacteria. Transcriptional profiles of Drosophila wild-type adult flies infected with Heterorhabditis bacteriophora carrying or lacking Photorhabdus or the bacteria alone were generated at 12 and 30 hours post infection using Illumina deep sequencing technology.
