C. elegans has been used as a successful model system to study the pathogenesis of Gram-positive, Gram-negative pathogens and fungal pathogens. In the recent years, C. elegans is widely used to study the effect of space flight conditions on susceptibility to pathogenic microbes, organogenesis and so on using simulated microgravity in a clinostat. C. elegans responds to pathogens through an array of immune signaling pathways. When compared to other model organisms, C. elegans genetic amenability and availability of mutants and ability to survive in space conditions helps to study the immune responsive pathways during pathogenic infections. TGF-beta/DBL-1 signaling in C. elegans plays a primary role in body length, organogenesis of male tail structures and the innate immune system. Previous spaceflight studies showed that the body length was decreased in microgravity, as well as expression of
dbl-1. On this backdrop, our study is focused on the effect of hypergravity, simulated microgravity and space microgravity on the regulation of DBL-1-mediated male tail sensory ray formation and DBL-1-mediated innate immune response against bacterial pathogens. We expect that exposure of C. elegans to microgravity or hypergravity conditions may affect its behavior, brood size, body length, intestinal colonization of pathogens and innate immune responsive pathways