Journal
BMC GENOMICS
Volume 23, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
BMC
DOI: 10.1186/s12864-022-09063-w
Keywords
Statistical genetics; Caenorhabdis elegans; Stress resistance
Funding
- NIH
- NIA [R01 GM120430]
- Glenn Foundation fellowship [T32 AG052374]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
This study discovered unique ER stress resistance in a wild Kenyan C. elegans isolate, which was passed from hermaphrodite mothers to hybrid offspring. The researchers developed an unbiased version of the reciprocal hemizygosity test (RH-seq) to explore the genetics of this parent-of-origin-dependent phenotype and found that the cutl-24 gene played a crucial role.
Background:Organisms in the wild can acquire disease- and stress-resistance traits that outstrip the programs endogenous to humans. Finding the molecular basis of such natural resistance characters is a key goal of evolutionary genetics. Standard statistical-genetic methods toward this end can perform poorly in organismal systems that lack high rates of meiotic recombination, like Caenorhabditis worms. Results:Here we discovered unique ER stress resistance in a wild Kenyan C. elegans isolate, which in inter-strain crosses was passed by hermaphrodite mothers to hybrid offspring. We developed an unbiased version of the reciprocal hemizygosity test, RH-seq, to explore the genetics of this parent-of-origin-dependent phenotype. Among top-scoring gene candidates from a partial-coverage RH-seq screen, we focused on the neuronally-expressed, cuticlin-like gene cutl-24 for validation. In gene-disruption and controlled crossing experiments, we found that cutl-24 was required in Kenyan hermaphrodite mothers for ER stress tolerance in their inter-strain hybrid offspring; cutl-24 was also a contributor to the trait in purebred backgrounds. Conclusions:These data establish the Kenyan strain allele of cutl-24 as a determinant of a natural stress-resistant state, and they set a precedent for the dissection of natural trait diversity in invertebrate animals without the need for a panel of meiotic recombinants.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available