BACKGROUND The detrimental effects of a short bout of stress can persist and potentially turn lethal, long after the return to normal conditions. Thermotolerance, which is the capacity of an organism to withstand relatively extreme temperatures, is influenced by the response during stress exposure, as well as the recovery process afterwards. While heat-shock response mechanisms have been studied intensively, predicting thermal tolerance remains a challenge. RESULTS Here, we use the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to measure transcriptional resilience to heat stress and predict thermotolerance. Using principal component analysis in combination with genome-wide gene expression profiles collected in three high-resolution time series during control, heat stress, and recovery conditions, we infer a quantitative scale capturing the extent of stress-induced transcriptome dynamics in a single value. This scale provides a basis for evaluating transcriptome resilience, defined here as the ability to depart from stress-expression dynamics during recovery. Independent replication across multiple highly divergent genotypes reveals that the transcriptional resilience parameter measured after a spike in temperature is quantitatively linked to long-term survival after heat stress. CONCLUSION Our findings imply that thermotolerance is an intrinsic property that pre-determines long-term outcome of stress and can be predicted by the transcriptional resilience parameter. Inferring the transcriptional resilience parameters of higher organisms could aid in evaluating rehabilitation strategies after stresses such as disease and trauma.

中文翻译：

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转录组弹性可预测秀丽隐杆线虫的耐热性。

背景技术短暂的一阵压力的有害影响会持续很长时间，并且在恢复正常状态后很长一段时间内可能变成致命的。耐热性是生物体承受相对极端温度的能力，受压力暴露期间的响应以及随后的恢复过程影响。尽管已经对热冲击响应机制进行了深入研究，但是预测热耐受性仍然是一个挑战。结果在这里，我们使用线虫秀丽隐杆线虫（Caenorhabditis elegans）来测量对热应激的转录弹性并预测耐热性。将主成分分析与在控制，热应激和恢复条件下三个高分辨率时间序列中收集的全基因组基因表达谱相结合，我们推断出一个定量尺度，该尺度以单个值捕获应激诱导的转录组动力学的程度。该量表为评估转录组抗逆性提供了基础，此处将其定义为在恢复过程中脱离压力表达动态的能力。在多种高度不同的基因型之间的独立复制揭示，温度升高后测得的转录弹性参数与热应激后的长期存活定量相关。结论我们的发现暗示，耐热性是一种固有的特性，可以预先确定长期的应激结果，并且可以通过转录弹性参数进行预测。推断高等生物的转录弹性参数可以帮助评估疾病和创伤等压力后的康复策略。