Mechanisms of Transgenerational immunity in Caenhabdoritis elegans in response to microsporidia infection

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Animals are in an evolutionary arms races with the pathogens that infect them. These pathogens exert extreme pressure on the host organisms they infect resulting in the evolution of immunity pathways that hosts use to defend themselves. Some animals are able to pass this immunity to their offspring in a process known as transgenerational immunity. This adaptive-like response allows the progeny from infected parents to be resistant to the pathogen that infected their parents. This phenomenon has been observed in a diversity of animal species including butterflies, shrimp and beetles, but the mechanisms of how this process works are mostly unknown. We will study this process using the simple invertebrate roundworm C. elegans. The pathogen we will study is a common and naturally occurring fungal parasite that grows inside of the intestinal cells of the worm. This pathogen, N. parisii, belongs to a group of pathogens called microsporidia. Microsporidia are a large group of pathogens that infect virtually all types of animals including many agriculturally important species such as honeybees, fish, and shrimp. We will study how this parasite infects this worm and characterize how infection in the intestine of the animal allows for the generation of progeny that are resistant to infection. We will also determine how this immunity is providing resistance against the infection by identifying and characterizing the genes that the worm uses to inhibit the growth of the pathogen.This research will elucidate mechanisms of the wide spread epigenetic phenomenon of transgenerational immunity. These studies will further our understanding of how animals are able to defend themselves against pathogens. Additionally, these studies will lead to new insights into microsporidia pathogenesis. Finally, this work will shed light into how the environment of parents can contribute to the phenotypes observed in offspring.