Abstract
BackgroundThe success of a biological control agent depends on key traits, particularly reproductive potential, environmental tolerance, and ability to be cultured. These traits can deteriorate rapidly when the biological control agent is reared in culture. Trait deterioration under laboratory conditions has been widely documented in the entomopathogenic nematode (EPN) Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb) but the specific mechanisms behind these genetic processes remain unclear. This research investigates the molecular mechanisms of trait deterioration of two experimental lines of Hb, an inbred line (L5M) and its original parental line (OHB). We generated transcriptional profiles of two experimental lines of Hb, identified the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and validated their differential expression in the deteriorated line.ResultsAn expression profiling study was performed between experimental lines L5M and OHB of Hb with probes for 15,220 ESTs from the Hb transcriptome. Microarray analysis showed 1,185 DEGs comprising of 469 down- and 716 up-regulated genes in trait deteriorated nematodes. Analysis of the DEGs showed that trait deterioration involves massive changes of the transcripts encoding enzymes involved in metabolism, signal transduction, virulence and longevity. We observed a pattern of reduced expression of enzymes related to primary metabolic processes and induced secondary metabolism. Expression of sixteen DEGs in trait deteriorated nematodes was validated by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR (qRT-PCR) which revealed similar expression kinetics for all the genes tested as shown by microarray.ConclusionAs the most closely related major entomopathogen to C. elegans, Hb provides an attractive near-term application for using a model organism to better understand interspecies interactions and to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying trait deterioration in biological control agents. This information could also be used to improve the beneficial traits of biological control agents and better understand fundamental aspects of nematode parasitism and mutualism.
Highlights
The success of a biological control agent depends on key traits, reproductive potential, environmental tolerance, and ability to be cultured
To identify genes associated with trait deterioration in the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora (Hb), an expression profiling study was performed using custom Roche NimbleGen expression arrays with probes for 15,220 ESTs from the Hb transcriptome
To identify the genes involved in trait deterioration, expression was analyzed between two experimental lines of Hb; L5M and OHB
Summary
The success of a biological control agent depends on key traits, reproductive potential, environmental tolerance, and ability to be cultured These traits can deteriorate rapidly when the biological control agent is reared in culture. The success of a biological control agent depends on key traits, compatibility with the target pest, reproductive potential, host-finding ability, environmental tolerance, and ability to be cultured. These traits, can deteriorate rapidly, and substantially when a biological control agent is isolated from nature and reared in the laboratory, or mass-produced for commercial purposes [3,4,5]. Trait deterioration may result from non-genetic factors such as poor nutrition and disease [4]
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