Wild-type Caenorhabditis elegans isolates exhibit distinct gene expression profiles in response to microbial infection

The soil-dwelling nematode Caenorhabditis elegans serves as a model system to study innate immunity against microbial pathogens. C. elegans have been collected from around the world, where they, presumably, adapted to regional microbial ecologies. Here we use survival assays and RNA-sequencing to be...

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Published in:	BMC genomics Vol. 23; no. 1; p. 229
Main Authors:	Lansdon, Patrick, Carlson, Maci, Ackley, Brian D
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central Ltd 23-03-2022 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	Analysis Animals Antimicrobial agents Bacteria Bacteria, Pathogenic Bacterial pathogens Caenorhabditis elegans Caenorhabditis elegans - genetics Caenorhabditis elegans - metabolism Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - genetics Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins - metabolism Climate Detoxification E coli Enzymes Extracellular matrix Gene expression Gene sequencing Genes Genetic aspects Genomics Immune response Immune system Innate immunity Laboratories Lectins Lipid metabolism Lipids Microorganisms Nematoda - genetics Nematodes Nosocomial infections Pathogens Physiological aspects Proteins Pseudomonas aeruginosa Pseudomonas aeruginosa - genetics Staphylococcus epidermidis Staphylococcus infections Transcriptome Transcriptomes Tropical diseases Worms United States Transcriptomes Caenorhabditis elegans Innate immunity Bacterial pathogens
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Summary:	The soil-dwelling nematode Caenorhabditis elegans serves as a model system to study innate immunity against microbial pathogens. C. elegans have been collected from around the world, where they, presumably, adapted to regional microbial ecologies. Here we use survival assays and RNA-sequencing to better understand how two isolates from disparate climates respond to pathogenic bacteria. We found that, relative to N2 (originally isolated in Bristol, UK), CB4856 (isolated in Hawaii), was more susceptible to the Gram-positive microbe, Staphylococcus epidermidis, but equally susceptible to Staphylococcus aureus as well as two Gram-negative microbes, Providencia rettgeri and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We performed transcriptome analysis of infected worms and found gene-expression profiles were considerably different in an isolate-specific and microbe-specific manner. We performed GO term analysis to categorize differential gene expression in response to S. epidermidis. In N2, genes that encoded detoxification enzymes and extracellular matrix proteins were significantly enriched, while in CB4856, genes that encoded detoxification enzymes, C-type lectins, and lipid metabolism proteins were enriched, suggesting they have different responses to S. epidermidis, despite being the same species. Overall, discerning gene expression signatures in an isolate by pathogen manner can help us to understand the different possibilities for the evolution of immune responses within organisms.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1471-2164 1471-2164
DOI:	10.1186/s12864-022-08455-2