Fig 8. Model of the host genes and processes involved in Bt strain-specific interaction with C. elegans.

ELT-2 plays a central role in mediating distinct responses to Bt247 (blue background) and Bt679 (red background), as shown by the differential regulation of known ELT-2 targets by Bt247 and Bt679 exposure and the disappearance of this strain-specific DE pattern upon elt-2 knockdown in our transcriptome analyses. Other transcription factors such as NHRs appear to interact with elt-2 to hone the transcriptional response to a specific pathogen. Please note that while only strain-specific response pathways are shown here, the responses to the two Bt strains are not completely distinct, common response pathways like the one mediated by jun-1 may interact or act in parallel to ELT-2. The differential activation of the ELT-2 targets must be initiated by an upstream sensor, which is represented here by question marks and still needs to be identified in future work. Arrows represent positive influence in the function of a given gene or process, bars represent a negative influence and double dashed lines represent genetic interaction between genes or biological processes.