Variation in gene expression is a feature of all living systems and has recently been characterized extensively among wild strains of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. To enable researchers to query gene expression and gene expression variation at any gene of interest, we have created a user-friendly web application that shares RNA-seq transcription data for 208 wild C. elegans strains generated by the Caenorhabditis Natural Diversity Resource (CaeNDR). Here, we describe the features of the web application and the details of the data and data processing underlying it. We hope that this website, wildworm.biosci.gatech.edu/cendrexp/, will help C. elegans researchers better understand their favorite genes and strains.
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A ubiquinone precursor analogue does not clearly increase the growth rate of Caenorhabditis inopinata
The evolution of developmental rates may drive morphological change. Caenorhabditis inopinata develops nearly twice as slowly as Caenorhabditis elegans. clk-1 encodes a hydroxylase required for synthesizing ubiquinone, and mutant clk-1 slow growth phenotypes can be rescued by supplying animals with a ubiquinone precursor analogue, 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate. RNA-seq data showing low clk-1 expression raised the possibility that C. inopinata grows slowly because of reduced ubiquinone biosynthesis. C. inopinata did not reveal a clear reduction in the age of maturation when reared on 2,4-dihydroxybenzoate. Further scrutiny of RNA-seq results revealed multiple ubiquinone metabolism genes have low expression in C. inopinata. Divergent clk-1 expression alone may not be a major driver of the evolution of slow development in this species.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2238788
- PAR ID:
- 10573315
- Publisher / Repository:
- microPublication Biology
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- microPublication biology
- Volume:
- 2024
- ISSN:
- 2578-9430
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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