Abstract
Non-coding RNAs have important roles in regulating physiology, including immunity. Here, we performed transcriptome profiling of immune-responsive genes in Drosophila melanogaster during a Gram-positive bacterial infection, concentrating on long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes. The gene most highly induced by a Micrococcus luteus infection was CR44404, named Induced by Infection (lincRNA-IBIN). lincRNA-IBIN is induced by both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in Drosophila adults and parasitoid wasp Leptopilina boulardi in Drosophila larvae, as well as by the activation of the Toll or the Imd pathway in unchallenged flies. We show that upon infection, lincRNA-IBIN is expressed in the fat body, in hemocytes and in the gut, and its expression is regulated by NF-κB signaling and the chromatin modeling brahma complex. In the fat body, overexpression of lincRNA-IBIN affected the expression of Toll pathway -mediated genes. Notably, overexpression of lincRNA-IBIN in unchallenged flies elevated sugar levels in the hemolymph by enhancing the expression of genes important for glucose retrieval. These data show that lncRNA genes play a role in Drosophila immunity and indicate that lincRNA-IBIN acts as a link between innate immune responses and metabolism.
Highlights
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) is a widely used model system in immunological studies [1]
We have identified and characterized an immune-inducible long non-coding RNA gene, long non-coding intergenic RNA (lincRNA)-IBIN. lincRNA
Long non-coding RNA IBIN (CR44404) expression is induced by an infection in Drosophila
Summary
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (D. melanogaster) is a widely used model system in immunological studies [1]. Drosophila has an elegant innate immune response that includes both the cellular and the humoral arms [2,3]. It has become evident that beside the protein coding genes that positively or negatively regulate the humoral and cellular innate immune responses, there is a multitude of short and long non-coding RNA genes that affect innate immune responses [13,14,15,16]. In between and within protein coding genes in the genome, there are thousands of uncharacterized non-coding RNA genes. The functions of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA, >200 nucleotides) genes are more diverse [17]. There are fewer lncRNAs in the genome and the ratio of lncRNAs to protein coding genes is lower than in humans [20]. The current lncRNA numbers can be found in the NONCODE Version v5.0 database (www.noncode.org)
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