Oral immune priming with Bacillus thuringiensis induces a shift in the gene expression of Tribolium castaneum larvae

BMC Genomics

Research Article

Jenny M. Greenwood¹  Sarah Behrens¹  Joachim Kurtz¹  Robert Peuß²  Barbara Milutinović³  Philip Rosenstiel⁴  Daniela Esser⁴  Hinrich Schulenburg⁵ 

[1] Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, 48149, Münster, Germany;Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, 48149, Münster, Germany;Current Address: Stowers Institute for Medical Research, 1000 East 50th Street, 64110, Kansas City, MO, USA;Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Münster, Hüfferstrasse 1, 48149, Münster, Germany;Institute of Science and Technology Austria, Am Campus 1, 3400, Klosterneuburg, Austria;Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Schittenhelmstr. 12, 24105, Kiel, Germany;Zoological Institute, Christian-Albrechts University Kiel, Am Botanischen Garten 1-9, 24118, Kiel, Germany;

关键词: RNA-sequencing;    Immune priming;    Tribolium castaneum;    Host-parasite interaction;    Bacillus thuringiensis;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12864-017-3705-7

 received in 2016-12-24, accepted in 2017-04-12,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe phenomenon of immune priming, i.e. enhanced protection following a secondary exposure to a pathogen, has now been demonstrated in a wide range of invertebrate species. Despite accumulating phenotypic evidence, knowledge of its mechanistic underpinnings is currently very limited. Here we used the system of the red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum and the insect pathogen Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to further our molecular understanding of the oral immune priming phenomenon. We addressed how ingestion of bacterial cues (derived from spore supernatants) of an orally pathogenic and non-pathogenic Bt strain affects gene expression upon later challenge exposure, using a whole-transcriptome sequencing approach.ResultsWhereas gene expression of individuals primed with the orally non-pathogenic strain showed minor changes to controls, we found that priming with the pathogenic strain induced regulation of a large set of distinct genes, many of which are known immune candidates. Intriguingly, the immune repertoire activated upon priming and subsequent challenge qualitatively differed from the one mounted upon infection with Bt without previous priming. Moreover, a large subset of priming-specific genes showed an inverse regulation compared to their regulation upon challenge only.ConclusionsOur data demonstrate that gene expression upon infection is strongly affected by previous immune priming. We hypothesise that this shift in gene expression indicates activation of a more targeted and efficient response towards a previously encountered pathogen, in anticipation of potential secondary encounter.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017