Indole from commensal bacteria impact the aging transcriptome of C. elegans

We report here that in C. elegans, indole induces a gene expression profile in aged animals reminiscent of that seen in the young, but which is distinct from that associated with normal aging. Moreover, in older animals, indole induces genes associated with oogenesis, and, accordingly, extends fecundity and reproductive span. Overall design: Whole animal trnascriptomic profile of old (12 day old adult) C. elegans growing on indole-positive E.coli, K12 or indole-negative mutant of K12, K12tnaA was obtained using RNA-Seq with Illumina Trueseq and was compared with the profile of their younger (2 day old adult) counterparts ------------------------------------------- RNA was prepared from 12 day old adult (LATE) wild type worms (N2) grown on E.coli K12tnaA (tnaA) containing a deletion of tryptophanase (necessary for indole production) N2K12 means worms were grown in E coli K12 bacteria which is indole positive EARLY means RNA was prepared from 2 day old adults. AHRK12 means ahr-1(ia3) which has loss of function mutaion of ahr-1 gene was grown on K12 condition