Dynamic gene expression of two Caenorhabditis elegans wild type strains (N2 and CB4856)

We analyzed the consequences of recombination in gene expression. For this, we measured expression patterns in two C. elegans wild types, N2 and CB4856 (CB). We compare these profiles with gene expression values from a Recombinant Inbred Population (RIL) derived from the same wild types. Expression values of the RILs (GSE17071) were obtained from Viñuela et al. (Genome Research, 2010). N2 and CB strain nematodes were cultured in identical conditions. Likewise, mRNA was extracted at three different ages (juveniles, reproductive and old worms) to investigate the transcriptional consequences of recombination in aging worms. Then, we explored gene expression heritability and transgression as genetic parameters for the analysis of gene expression divergence in natural isolates. Moreover, we investigated the progression of those parameters with age. In total, 14 dual-color microarrays were done on two wild type strains (N2 and CB4856) and three age groups (40, 96, and 214 hours). 5 replicates of t1 (juvenile) and t3 (senescent) samples, and 4 replicates of t2 (reproductive) samples, in a dye-swap design.