Identifying HIS-35’s Role in Caenorhabditis elegans Reproductive Fertility Within Male and Hermaphrodite Germline Tissues
Author: Arnie Maravillas
Faculty Supervisor: Diana Chu
Department: Biology
The global fertility crisis is a rising concern as 1 in 6 people are infertile. We study fertility in C. elegans by observing the functional role of histone variants involved in regulating gene expression of gene subsets vital for proper reproduction. There are three variants to canonical histone H2A in C. elegans with one being HIS-35. While HIS-35 has a 99% sequence similarity with canonical H2A, HIS-35 absence results in 44% progeny reduction suggesting a vital role in fertility however its function remains unknown. To investigate this, we use RNA-sequencing data gathered from male and hermaphrodite germline tissues in his-35 deletion mutant and wildtype samples to compare functional effects of variant HIS-35 involved in fertility. Differential expression analysis is performed to categorize differences in genes regulated by HIS-35 in both tissue types. Phenotypic changes through progeny counts and developmental assays in deleterious his-35 mutant compared to wildtype organisms will also be conducted. I expect the results to show substantial differential expression of genes. These results will identify genes regulated by HIS-35 in both male and hermaphrodite tissue types essential in fertility, leading to a better understanding of the functions of this histone variant.