RNAseq Analysis of C. elegans infected by Orsay virus suggests evidence of a new RNAi or stress related pathway

摘要

The C. elegans genome is currently the best annotated eukaryotic genome. As a result, the identification of novel genes and their functional annotation is challenging. The recent discovery of the Orsay virus in C. elegans offers an attractive possibility. Effectively, in contrast to the exogenous RNAi pathway, the antiviral RNAi response is not systemic and cannot be passed between generations, as shown for plants and other eukaryotes. These results suggest that the two antiviral RNAi pathways between C. elegans and plants are different and the genes involved remain to be discovered. In this study, we performed a meta-analysis using BIOCONDUCTOR of RNAseq data deposited in GEO express at NCBI and found that the top 17 genes that are differentially expressed during infection based on p value are novel uncharacterized genes. Further attempts to annotate these genes suggest their involvement in a new RNAi or stress-related response pathway.