Abstract
Caenorhabditis elegans is a simple yet powerful host model organism for exploring how animals mount defenses against infection. In the absence of an adaptive immune system, it relies solely on innate immunity, making it an ideal model for studying pathogen-induced innate immune responses, which are often conserved across higher eukaryotic organisms. Among the numerous transcription factors encoded in the C. elegans genome, the basic leucine zipper (bZIP) family is particularly notable for its pivotal role in regulating immune and stress responses. Of the 29 major bZIP proteins identified in C. elegans, this review focuses on 12 that play a direct role in pathogen response and innate immunity. In this review, we summarize the basic structure and processing of bZIP proteins, explore their potential involvement in various pathways that regulate innate immune and stress responses, and highlight key scientific questions for future investigation. By shedding light on the complex yet coordinated immune strategies employed by C. elegans this review offers insights to enhance our understanding of innate immunity in more complex organisms, including humans.