Single worm transcriptomics identifies a developmental core network of oscillating genes with deep conservation across nematodes.
Shuai SunChristian RödelspergerRalf J SommerPublished in: Genome research (2021)
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 Pristionchus pacificus 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 C. elegans One important gene family overrepresented among oscillating genes is collagens. Several of these collagen genes are regulated by the developmental switch gene eud-1, 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 P. pacificus gene expression throughout postembryonic development, and (3) a comparative analysis of oscillatory gene expression between the two model organisms P. pacificus and C. elegans and associated evolutionary dynamics.
Keyphrases
- genome wide
- gene expression
- dna methylation
- genome wide identification
- high resolution
- single cell
- copy number
- young adults
- genome wide analysis
- bioinformatics analysis
- transcription factor
- randomized controlled trial
- rna seq
- high frequency
- optical coherence tomography
- risk assessment
- multidrug resistant
- climate change
- tandem mass spectrometry
- high throughput sequencing