PALS-14 promotes resistance to infection in .

Microsporidia are common natural pathogens of the nematode . Infection of by the microsporidian species leads to induction of the Intracellular Pathogen Response (IPR), including transcriptional upregulation of 26 genes. The divergent ' ' sequence signature is conserved with humans, but PALS proteins have unknown biochemical functions. So far, none of the 26 induced genes have a demonstrated role in immunity. Here, we use RNAseq data, RNA interference, and CRISPR/Cas9 mutant analysis to identify the -induced gene as an immune gene that provides defense against microsporidia infection in .