Reproductive system, temperature, and genetic background effects in experimentally evolving populations of Caenorhabditis elegans.

ABSTRACT: Experimental evolution (EE) is a powerful research framework for gaining insights into many biological questions, including the evolution of reproductive systems. We designed a long-term and highly replicated EE project using the nematode C. elegans, with the main aim of investigating the impact of reproductive system on adaptation and diversification under environmental challenge. From the laboratory-adapted strain N2, we derived isogenic lines and introgressed the fog-2(q71) mutation, which changes the reproductive system from nearly exclusive selfing to obligatory outcrossing, independently into 3 of them. This way, we obtained 3 pairs of isogenic ancestral populations differing in reproductive system; from these, we derived replicate EE populations and let them evolve in either novel (

SUBMITTER: Baran JK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10984399 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature