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New publication: Balancing Selection of the Intracellular Pathogen Response in Natural Caenorhabditis elegans Populations
Infection with microsporidia, oomycetes and a virus activate the Intracellular Pathogen Response (IPR) in the most commonly studied Caenorhabditis elegans strain Bristol N2. However, antipathogenic defenses are typically experiencing high selective pressure and may differ between distinct wild isolates.
Here, we have investigated natural genetic variation in the pals-genes that are core genes within the IPR. While there is limited variation within these genes, some of these variations appear actively maintained in nature by balancing selection. This work contributes to understanding natural diversity in antipathogenic defense in C. elegans and how natural selection acts on the C. elegans genome.