Superoxide dismutase SOD-3 regulates redox homeostasis in the intestine

There are four cellular superoxide dismutase paralogs in C. elegans. The role of these superoxide dismutases in redox homeostasis remains largely unknown. Here, we generated the integrated redox reporter rxRFP to detect changes in redox homeostasis using live fluorescence imaging. We found that sod-3 deletion contributes to oxidative stress elevation. Deletions in additional paralogs ameliorate the oxidative stress of sod-3. Complete elimination of all four paralogs elicits the same increase in rxRFP fluorescence as in the sod-3 single mutation, suggesting a compensatory role of other sods. Our results suggest that SOD-3 plays a key role in regulating gut redox homeostasis.