Project description:Young adult fer-15;fem-1 Caenorhabditis elegans were infected with Staphylococcus aureus for 8 h to determine the transcriptional host response to Staphylococcus aureus. Analysis of differential gene expression in C. elegans young adults exposed to two different bacteria: E. coli strain OP50 (control), wild-type Staphylococcus aureus RN6390. Samples were analyzed at 8 hours after exposure to the different bacteria. These studies identified C. elegans genes induced by pathogen infection. Keywords: response to pathogen infection, innate immunity, host-pathogen interactions
Project description:C-type lectin-like domain (CTLD) encoding genes are highly diverse in C. elegans, comprising a clec gene family of 283 members. Since vertebrate CTLD proteins have characterized functions in defense responses against pathogens and since expression of C. elegans clec genes is pathogen-dependent, it is generally assumed that clec genes function in C. elegans immune defenses. In this study we challenged this assumption and focused on the C. elegans clec gene clec-4, whose expression is highly upregulated upon infection with various pathogens. We tested the involvement of clec-4 in the defense response to infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA14, Bacillus thuringiensis BT18247, and the natural pathogen Serratia rubidaea MYb237. Contrary to our expectation clec-4(ok2050) mutant worms were not more susceptible to pathogen infection than wildtype worms. To explore potential redundant function between different C. elegans clec genes, we investigated expression of several clec-4 paralogs, finding that clec-4, clec-41, and clec-42 expression shows similar infection-dependent changes and co-localizes to the intestine. We found that only clec-42 is required for the C. elegans defense response to BT18247 infection and that clec-4 genetically interacts with clec-41 and clec-42. The exact role of clec-4 in pathogen defense responses however remains enigmatic. Our results further indicate that a complex interplay between different clec genes regulates C. elegans defense responses.
Project description:This experiment investigates the gene expression differences upon Orsay virus infection in the Caenorhabdits elegans strains N2 and CB4856. Assays measuring viral load found that the N2 strain displays higher viral loads upon infection than the CB4856 strain. The goal of the experiment was to identify gene-expression differences that could explain the differences in viral load. We (mock-)infected 26h-old C. elegans populations with Orsay virus and took samples after 30h of infection. For each treatment-strain combination 8 samples were collected. Thereafter RNA was isolated, labelled, and hybridized on microarray.
Project description:This experiment investigates changes in gene expression upon Orsay virus infection and between males and hermaphrodites in the nematode Ceanorhabditis elegans. The laboratory reference strain N2 was used. For this strain, males are less susceptible to Orsay virus infection than hermaphrodites. The goal of the experiment was to identify genes that show different expression patterns for both sexes upon Orsay virus infection. We mock-treated or infected 48h-old C. elegans populations with Orsay virus and took samples 30-hours after infection. For each treatment-sex combination 8 samples were collected. Thereafter RNA was isolated, labelled, and hybridized on microarray. The gene-expression dynamics of previously identified genes (e.g. from literature and from a highly replicated N2 versus CB4856 experiment) were analyzed.
Project description:Young adult N2 Caenorhabditis elegans were infected with Enterococcus faecalis or Enterococcus faecium for 8 h to determine the transcriptional host response to each enterococcal species. Analysis of differential gene expression in C. elegans young adults exposed to four different bacteria: heat-killed Escherichia coli strain OP50 (control), wild-type E. faecalis MMH594, wild-type E. faecium E007, or Bacillus subtilis PY79 (sigF::kan). Samples were analyzed at 8 hours after exposure to the different bacteria. These studies identified C. elegans genes induced by pathogen infection. Brain-heart infusion agar plates (10 ug/ml kanamycin) were used.