Abstract
Manganese is a metal that is required for optimal biological functioning of organisms. Absorption, cellular import and export, and excretion of manganese are all tightly regulated. While some genes involved in regulation, such as DMT-1 and ferroportin, are known, it is presumed that many more are involved and as yet unknown. Excessive exposure to manganese, usually in industrial settings such as mining or welding, can lead to neurotoxicity and a condition known as manganism that closely resembles Parkinson's disease. Elucidating transcriptional changes following manganese exposure could lead to the development of biomarkers for exposure. This unit presents a protocol for RNA sequencing in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans to assay for transcriptional changes following exposure to manganese. This protocol is adaptable to any environmental exposure in C. elegans. The protocol results in counts of gene transcripts in control versus exposed conditions and a ranked list of differentially expressed genes for further study.