Global Analysis of Gene Expression in the Dauer Larvae of Caenorhabditis elegans

John Wang ¹ and Stuart K. Kim^1,2,3

¹Department of Developmental Biology
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305

²Department of Genetics
Stanford University Medical Center
Stanford, CA 94305

³corresponding author
650-725-7671
650-725-7739
kim@cmgm.stanford.edu

Introduction

    The dauer is an important developmental transition in C. elegans, as dauers have increased longevity, stress resistance, nictation and altered metabolism compared to normal worms. We have used DNA microarrays to profile gene expression differences during the transition from the dauer state to the non-dauer state, and have identified 1984 genes that show significant expression changes. This analysis includes genes that encode transcription factors and components of signaling pathways that could regulate the entry to and exit from the dauer state, and genes that encode components of metabolic pathways important for dauer survival and longevity. Homologs of C. elegans dauer-enriched genes may be involved in the disease process in parasitic nematodes. Finally, these microarray experiments provide a starting point to illuminate the function for the large number of genes that previously had no annotated function.

    This website contains the raw data of the figures published in the paper, a search function to examine the expression profiles of interesting genes, and supplemental figures and tables. All the analysis in this paper has been based on statistical criteria. For those who are interested in gene expression differences during the time course experiments that satisfy a certain change in magnitude, please refer to supplemental table S-Table 1. Supplemental Figures and Tables

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