Uptake and reaction of C. Elegans to environmental RNAs

Abstract

Relation between animals and bacteria is just like marriage made by evolution. For Caenorhabditis elegans, bacteria are part of their food as well as the environments. In recent decades, C. elegans has been extensively used as a model organism for studying host-microbiota interactions. As dsRNAs expressed in E. coli, which is the laboratory food of C. elegans, can trigger RNAi in the worm, it is possible that bacteria could use their own RNAs to affect the physiology of C. elegans. The recent studies provide insights into these speculations. Our lab have demonstrated that some of the noncoding RNAs of E. coli modulate gene expression and regulate the life span and sensory response of C. elegans. These noncoding RNAs may be processed into tiny RNAs of ∼17-18 nucleotides (nt) and utilize a distinct although partially overlapping pathway with the canonical feeding RNAi, which is triggered by exogenous double-stranded RNAs. There is a need for more studies and discussions about the interaction between C. elegans and RNAs in the environments, as a lot of details and mechanisms are still unknown.