title: A two-gene balance regulates Salmonella typhimurium tolerance in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: Lysozymes are antimicrobial enzymes that perform a critical role in resisting infection in a wide-range of eukaryotes. However, using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as a model host we now demonstrate that deletion of the protist type lysozyme LYS-7 renders animals susceptible to killing by the fatal fungal human pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans, but, remarkably, enhances tolerance to the enteric bacteria Salmonella Typhimurium. This trade-off in immunological susceptibility in C. elegans is further mediated by the reciprocal activity of lys-7 and the tyrosine kinase abl-1. Together this implies a greater complexity in C. elegans innate immune function than previously thought.
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Elizabeth K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Maaike C W
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: van den Berg
authors.forename: Robin C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: May
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology*; D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D003453:Cryptococcosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D003455:Cryptococcus neoformans / Q000502:physiology; D004303:Dosage Compensation, Genetic; D017238:Genes, Helminth / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D009113:Muramidase / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation / Q000235:genetics; D010641:Phenotype; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl / Q000235:genetics*; D012481:Salmonella Infections, Animal / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000502:physiology*; D013489:Suppression, Genetic
chemical_list: D029742:Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins; C516680:ABL-1 protein, C elegans; D016315:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-abl; D009113:Muramidase