Anti-fungal innate immunity in C. elegans is enhanced by evolutionary diversification of antimicrobial peptides.

ABSTRACT: Encounters with pathogens provoke changes in gene transcription that are an integral part of host innate immune responses. In recent years, studies with invertebrate model organisms have given insights into the origin, function, and evolution of innate immunity. Here, we use genome-wide transcriptome analysis to characterize the consequence of natural fungal infection in Caenorhabditis elegans. We identify several families of genes encoding putative antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and proteins that are transcriptionally up-regulated upon infection. Many are located in small genomic clusters. We focus on the nlp-29 cluster of six AMP genes and show that it enhances pathogen resistance in vivo. The same cluster has a different structure in two other Caenorhabditis species. A phylogenetic analy

SUBMITTER: Pujol N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2453101 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature