Transcriptomic analysis of Steinernema nematodes highlights metabolic costs associated to Xenorhabdus endosymbiont association and rearing conditions

We investigate the potential metabolic costs for Steinernema nematode in relation to the maintenance and vectoring of their Xenorhabdus endosymbionts. we performed a comparative dual RNA-seq analysis of infective juveniles (IJs) of two symbiotic partners: S. carpocapsae-X. nematophila and S. puntauvense-X. bovienii. For each association three conditions were study: 1) IJs reared in the insect (in vivo colonized), 2) colonized IJs reared on liver-kidney agar (in vitro colonized) and 3) IJs depleted by the bacteria reared on liver-kidney agar (in vitro aposymbiotic).