Transgenerational bacterial sRNAs and epigenetic effectors of a pathogenic memory

How bacteria produce inheritance of an adaptive trait is largely unexplored. Heritable responses to bacterial pathogens in the nematode include avoidance and pathogen-induced diapause (PIDF). The latter is a drastic evasion of the pathogen threat by the cessation of feeding. In this work we use C. elegans and its bacteria to study the transgenerational RNA dynamics of an interspecies crosstalk leading to a heritable behavior. We dissect generation specific changes in RNA expression in the holobiont, as well as bacterial mediators of PIDF in C. elegans.