CGC Bibliography Paper 5651

Identification of host and pathogen factors involved in virulence using Caenorhabditis elegans.

Tan MW

Medline:

12474376

Citation:

Methods in Enzymology 358: 13-28 2002

Type:

REVIEW

Genes:

aex-2 eat-13 egl-9 mev-1 phm-2 rad-8 srf-2 srf-3 srf-5 unc-25

Abstract:

Functional interactions between pathogen and host are crucial to the process of pathogenicity and by identifying and characterizing genes involved in host defense mechanisms and the pathogen response to these mechanisms, we can understand pathogenicity more fully. To identify the complex cascades of events that are triggered in the host and the pathogen during an infection, ideally both the host and the pathogen should be genetically tractable. A Caenohabditis elegans-Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogenesis model has been developed that allows us to tap into the multifaceted power of functional genomics and genetics to systematically and comprehensively dissect both the virulence determinants of the pathogen and innate immune system of the host in a single experimental system. By studying pathogenesis in a genetically tractable host such as C. elegans, both the animal host and pathogen can be genetically altered and the effects of these alterations on pathogenesis/host immunity can be readily tested. Moreover, complete genome sequences are available for both C. elegans and P. aeruginosa, thus bringing to bear numerous genomics resources and technologies to the study of host-pathogen interactions. Comparison to the complete human genome has revealed that 43% of the C. elegans proteins have sequence similarities to predicted human proteins, suggesting that C. elegans may be a valid model for studies of numerous disease processes, including the innate immune response to infectious agents. The use of C. elegans as a model host to study host-pathogen interactions has been extended to include several other human bacterial pathogens, such as gram-negative bacteria Salmonella enterica, Serratia marcescens, Burkhoderia pseudomallei, and gram-positive bacteria Enterococcus faecalis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Staphylococcus aureus.