Thesis subject
The genetic basis of male resistance to viral infection in C. elegans
Male Caenorhabditis elegans nematodes show higher resistance to infection with their natural pathogen the Orsay virus than hermaphrodites of the same species.
Some anti-viral genes are constitutively higher expressed in males than in hermaphrodites and may underlie viral resistance. In this project you compare the whole-genome transcriptional activity of males and hermaphrodites and/or work with or construct mutant strains that can be screened for their susceptibility to the Orsay virus. Thereby we aim to unravel the genetic basis of viral infection in C. elegans males.
Techniques that can be used:
•Viral infection of the model organism C. elegans
•Molecular techniques such as quantitative PCR
•Mutant screening
•Transcriptional analysis