The function of novel microbiota-responsive genes in C. elegans

• Applicant: Dr. Barbara Pees
• Subject Area: Animal Physiology and Biochemistry
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 556291697

C. elegans is a highly informative model to study the genetics of host-microbe interactions. Despite recent advances in identifying the worm’s native microbiota and characterizing the microbiota’s impact on the host, we know almost nothing about the host response to specific naturally associated microbes. Gene F55G11.4 is the most strongly microbiota-induced gene in C. elegans. It is a member of a taxonomically-restricted gene family, which has not been studied, and which may function in the worm’s interaction with microbes. This project aims (1) to identify the function of F55G11.4 by utilizing a knock-out mutant and generating an overexpression as well as genetic rescue strains and characterizing these strains in phenotypic experiments; (2) to find genetic regulators of F55G11.4, by a genetic screen and subsequent phenotypic evaluation of obtained mutants; and (3) to analyze the functional diversity of the taxonomically-restricted gene family of F55G11.4 using gene expression analyses combined with a screen of sequenced microbiota bacteria. The systematic approach to in-depth functionally analyze gene F55G11.4 and the associated gene family will provide new general insights into the genetics of host-microbiota interactions, including the functions of as yet uncharacterized genes in an intensively studied model organism.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants