Transcriptomic response of young adult N2, xpa1, and glp1 nematodes 3h after exposure to 50 J/m2 UVC radiation at 25°C

We compared the transcriptomic response to UVC radiation in widltype (N2), DNA repair-deficient (xpa-1), and germ cell-deficient (glp-1) young adult nematodes. We were interested in the wildtype response to this stressor, and postulated that the early (3h post-exposure) difference might be different in nucleotide excision repair-deficient (xpa-1) nematodes. We also hypothesized that the response would be different in young adults composed entirely of somatic cells (glp-1 strain at this temperature), compared to germ cell-bearing and gravid young adults (N2 and xpa-1). Finally, we compared constitutive differences in gene expression between the strains. Young adult (24 h post-vulval crescent L4 stage) N2, xpa-1, and glp-1 nematodes were reared at 25°C and exposed to 50 J/m2 UVC radiation on K-agar plates without food as described (Meyer et al., 2007 Genome Biology 8(5):R70), placed on OP50-seeded plates for 2 h 45 minutes, washed off plates and rinsed with K-medium 3 times (~5 minutes each) by allowing settling, resuspending, settling again, etc. Nematodes were frozen and RNA extracted. The experiment was performed twice, once in 2007 and once in 2008, with 2 replicates each time, for a total “n” of 4 per strain per treatment (control vs UVC-exposed).