An Investigation of the Potential Antifungal Properties of CNC-2 in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Authors

  • Angelina M. D. Zehrbach
  • Alexandra R. Rogers
  • D. Ellen K. Tarr

Keywords:

antifungal peptide, caenacin, CNC-2, Drechmeria coniospora, host-parasite relationship

Abstract

Caenorhabditis elegans responds to infections by upregulating specific antimicrobial peptides. The caenacin-2 ( cnc-2 ) gene is consistently upregulated in C. elegans by infection with the filamentous fungus Drechmeria coniospora , but there have been no direct studies of the CNC-2 peptide’s in vivo or in vitro role in defending the nematode against this pathogen. We compared infection of wild-type and cnc-2 knockout nematode strains with four potential pathogens: D. coniospora , Candida albicans , Staphylococcus aureus , and Bacillus subtilis . There was no significant difference in survival between strains for any of the pathogens or on the maintenance strain of Escherichia coli . While we were unable to demonstrate definitively that CNC-2 is integral to fungal defenses in C. elegans ,we identified possible explanations for these results as well as future work that is needed to investigate CNC-2’s potential as a new antifungal treatment.

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Published

2017-12-15

Issue

Section

Contributed Papers: Ecology and Behavior