• Medientyp: E-Artikel
  • Titel: Single worm transcriptomics identifies a developmental core network of oscillating genes with deep conservation across nematodes
  • Beteiligte: Sun, Shuai; Rödelsperger, Christian; Sommer, Ralf J.
  • Erschienen: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2021
  • Erschienen in: Genome Research, 31 (2021) 9, Seite 1590-1601
  • Sprache: Englisch
  • DOI: 10.1101/gr.275303.121
  • ISSN: 1088-9051; 1549-5469
  • Entstehung:
  • Anmerkungen:
  • Beschreibung: <jats:p>High-resolution spatial and temporal maps of gene expression have facilitated a comprehensive understanding of animal development and evolution. In nematodes, the small body size represented a major challenge for such studies, but recent advancements have helped overcome this limitation. Here, we have implemented single worm transcriptomics (SWT) in the nematode model organism <jats:italic>Pristionchus pacificus</jats:italic> to provide a high-resolution map of the developmental transcriptome. We selected 38 time points from hatching of the J2 larvae to young adults to perform transcriptome analysis over 60 h of postembryonic development. A mean sequencing depth of 4.5 million read pairs allowed the detection of more than 23,135 (80%) of all genes. Nearly 3000 (10%) genes showed oscillatory expression with discrete expression levels, phases, and amplitudes. Gene age analysis revealed an overrepresentation of ancient gene classes among oscillating genes, and around one-third of them have 1:1 orthologs in <jats:italic>C. elegans</jats:italic>. One important gene family overrepresented among oscillating genes is collagens. Several of these collagen genes are regulated by the developmental switch gene <jats:italic>eud-1</jats:italic>, indicating a potential function in the regulation of mouth-form plasticity, a key developmental process in this facultative predatory nematode. Together, our analysis provides (1) an updated protocol for SWT in nematodes that is applicable to many microscopic species, (2) a 1- to 2-h high-resolution catalog of <jats:italic>P. pacificus</jats:italic> gene expression throughout postembryonic development, and (3) a comparative analysis of oscillatory gene expression between the two model organisms <jats:italic>P. pacificus</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>C. elegans</jats:italic> and associated evolutionary dynamics.</jats:p>
  • Zugangsstatus: Freier Zugang