Gene Expression in Paramecium During Holospora Infection

 Infection of Paramecium caudatum with Holospora undulata results in an endosymbiotic relationship that leads to a change in gene expression. The Holospora undulata are parasitic and are also unable to grow outside of the host-cell. Within the Paramecium, we predict that there are certain genes that cause susceptibility to this Holospora infection. In order to test this theory, we chose single genes to knock down in the Paramecium, which we then infected with the Holospora. We also produced a time course with different infection time points in order to test expression levels of a selected gene using qPCR. We predicted an increase in gene expression throughout the time course of infection and also hoped to reveal which genes have the highest expression values. We will continue to test the expression levels of specific genes through the time course process and examine the infection process in order to look for resistance in Paramecium caudatum.