Lysosome-related organelle genes are required for mitochondrial transformations during bacterial infections in Caenorhabditis elegans.
- 1Harvard Medical School; Massachusetts General Hospital
Abstract
Detecting and responding to pathogenic bacteria is an essential function of eukaryotic cells. As bacteria-derived organelles, mitochondria carry lipids, proteins, and other molecules such as iron which are required for bacterial growth, and thus are subject to pathogenic bacterial attack. In fact, mitochondrial morphology and function are often altered during early bacterial infection. However, the mechanism by which bacterial pathogen attack triggers mitochondrial responses is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that infection by the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa or hypoxia leads to remodeling of the mitochondrial network in the host Caenorhabditis elegans. Our analysis discovers that lysosome-related organelle (LRO) genes are required for this remodeling and indicates that LROs also precipitate downstream infection-response gene expression.
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BibTeX
@misc{cohen2026lysosomerelated,
title = {{Lysosome-related organelle genes are required for mitochondrial transformations during bacterial infections in Caenorhabditis elegans.}},
author = {J. D. Cohen and K. C. Q. Nguyen and D. H. Hall and F. M. Ausubel and G. Ruvkun},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.64898/2026.08.04.742833},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.04.742833v2},
note = {CC BY-ND},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Lysosome-related organelle genes are required for mitochondrial transformations during bacterial infections in Caenorhabditis elegans.
AU - J. D. Cohen
AU - K. C. Q. Nguyen
AU - D. H. Hall
AU - F. M. Ausubel
AU - G. Ruvkun
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/04
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.08.04.742833
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.08.04.742833v2
AB - Detecting and responding to pathogenic bacteria is an essential function of eukaryotic cells. As bacteria-derived organelles, mitochondria carry lipids, proteins, and other molecules such as iron which are required for bacterial growth, and thus are subject to pathogenic bacterial attack. In fact, mitochondrial morphology and function are often altered during early bacterial infection. However, the mechanism by which bacterial pathogen attack triggers mitochondrial responses is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that infection by the pathogenic bacterium Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa or hypoxia leads to remodeling of the mitochondrial network in the host Caenorhabditis elegans. Our analysis discovers that lysosome-related organelle (LRO) genes are required for this remodeling and indicates that LROs also precipitate downstream infection-response gene expression.
ER -