The effect of a persistent eugregarine infection on gene expression in the gut of flour beetles

Eugregarines cause non-pathogenic persistent infections in the gut of flour beetlespecies. Despite being relatively benign, these infections might elicit an immuneresponse from the beetle and alter the gene expression in the affected tissue.Therefore, infections with eugregarines have the potential to alter the susceptibilityto a secondary parasite that infects via the same route. Here, we exposedTribolium castaneum larvae to eugregarines by supplementing their diet with frasscontaining shed gametocysts, confirmed their infection status and performed totalRNA sequencing. Larvae that were not exposed to eugregarines serve as atreatment control.