Enhanced behavioral immune defenses in a C. elegans C-type lectin-like domain gene mutant

Developmental and Comparative Immunology
Barbara PeesKatja Dierking

Abstract

C-type lectin-like domain (CTLD) proteins occupy crucial functions in the immune system of vertebrates, but their role in invertebrate immunity is much less understood. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans possesses a highly diverse CTLD protein encoding (clec) gene repertoire. A role of C. elegans clec genes in pathogen defense is always assumed, yet experimental evidence for clec immune function is rare. To systematically test the potential function of clec genes in the C. elegans defense against pathogens, we screened 39 clec mutants for survival on the Gram-positive pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (BT18247) and 37 clec mutants on the Gram-negative pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA14). We found that clec mutants can exhibit either decreased or, unexpectedly, increased resistance to infection. Since we observed high escape behavior for some of the clec mutants on BT18247 during the initial screen, we then asked if increased pathogen avoidance behavior underlies the increased resistance of some clec mutants. We thus tested lawn leaving behavior of the resistant clec-29(ok3181), clec-34(ok2120), clec-151(ok2264), and C54G4.4(ok2110) mutant on BT18247. We found that C54G4.4(ok2110) mutant animals exhibit a particularly strong l...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 27, 2019·Medical Microbiology and Immunology·Moses MadendeCarolina H Pohl
Jan 2, 2019·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Andrei PapkouHinrich Schulenburg
Mar 19, 2021·Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews : MMBR·Leah J Radeke, Michael A Herman
Oct 26, 2021·Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology·Anke KloockCharlotte Rafaluk-Mohr

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