Effects of ethyl carbamate exposure on C. elegans transcriptome

Ethyl carbamate is a common food contaminant prevalent in fermented food with probable carcinogenic effects in animals. To date, other toxicological properties of ethyl carbamate are not well characterized. Using the genetic model Caenorhabditis elegans, we found that chronic exposure to ethyl carbamate during larval development inhibits growth while exposure at adulthood inhibits reproduction, shortens lifespan, and promotes degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Through whole-transcriptome RNA-sequencing, we found that ethyl carbamate invokes a widespread transcriptomic response inducing the differential expression of > 4,000 genes by at least 2-fold. Functional analysis of RNA-sequencing data revealed that genes up-regulated enrich to various neuron regulatory processes and xenobiotic defense. Gene expression analysis confirms that various genes functioning within phase 1 and 2 detoxification responses along with ABC transporters are highly up-regulated in response to ethyl carbamate exposure, suggesting the induction of oxidative stress. Overall, these findings demonstrates new toxicological properties of chronic ethyl carbamate exposure and provide new insights into the effects in has on transcriptome regulation in the C. elegans model. Total RNA was prepared from gravid young adult Caenorhabditis elegans with three biological replicates per group and sent to NovoGene for PE150 sequencing. Sequencing library were constructured with oligo-dT enrichment. Gene expression data were analyzed by DEGSeq.