Comparative Transcriptomics of heads and tails betweenSteinernema carpocapsaeandCaenorhabditis elegans

Abstract

Steinernema nematodes have been widely studied for insect infection and mutualism, but little is known about the patterns of gene expression along the body of these worms or how these compare to the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Here we perform the first comparative analysis between the heads and tail regions of Steinernema carpocapsae and C. elegans Infective Juveniles (IJs)/dauers and young adults using single-worm RNA-seq. While we find overall agreement in gene expression there were several sets of genes with substantial differences between the two species. Gene expression in the S. carpocapsae female compared to the C. elegans hermaphrodite heads and tails revealed differences in metabolism, aging, and determination of lifespan. Young adult male heads and tails showed major differences in developmental related processes such as morphogenesis as well as neuronal development and signaling. We also found head- and tail-specific gene expression differences between S. carpocapsae IJs and C. elegans dauers for genes related to growth and development as well as neuronal signaling and activity. This study is one of the first comparative transcriptomic analyses of body parts between distantly related species of nematodes and provides insight into both the highly conserved and genetically distinctive characteristics of both species.

Apex Predator Nematodes and Meso-Predator Bacteria Consume Their Basal Insect Prey through Discrete Stages of Chemical Transformations

“…Dashed block arrows indicate multiple pathway steps, and solid block arrows indicate a single pathway reaction. Fold changes in transcript abundances identified through the X. nematophila bacteria microarray analysis reported here (Data S2) or a publicly available S. carpocapsae nematode transcriptome analysis ( Table 3 ) ( 75 ) are indicated in parentheses below the relevant protein name. For bacterial microarray data, shown are the fold differences of wild-type (or 1°) transcript abundance compared to the comparison strain noted.…”

“…Accession numbers and locus tags are provided. c From Rodriguez et al ( 75 ). BH: Benjamini-Hochberg Procedure.…”

“…The potential importance of the kynurenine pathway and bacterial intestinal localization of S. carpocapsae physiology prompted us to interrogate a recent S. carpocapsae transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) data set comparing S. carpocapsae head versus tail tissues for differential expression of kynurenine pathway transcripts ( 75 ). nkat-1 and flu-2 transcripts encoding the enzymes predicted to convert kynurenine to kynurenic acid and anthranilate, respectively ( Fig.…”

Exploring Sustainable Agriculture with Nitrogen-Fixing Cyanobacteria and Nanotechnology

“…In addition, cyanobacteria can create complex relationships with plants because they are skilled nitrogen fixers and extracellular polymer makers. The addition of MNPs to these connections has the potential to increase nutrient transfer and build cooperative networks of nutrient exchange, improving nutrient flow and bioavailability [177].…”