Phylogeny of the nematode genus Pristionchus and implications for biodiversity, biogeography and the evolution of hermaphroditism.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The nematode Pristionchus pacificus has originally been developed as a satellite organism for comparison to Caenorhabditis elegans. A 10X coverage of the whole genome of P. pacificus is available, making P. pacificus the first non-Caenorhabditis nematode with a fully sequenced genome. The macroevolutionary comparison between P. pacificus and C. elegans has been complemented by microevolutionary studies of closely related strains and species within the genus Pristionchus. In addition, new understanding of the biology of Pristionchus from field studies, demonstrating a close association with various scarab beetles and the Colorado potato beetle, supports consideration of this nematode in studies of ecosystems. In the course of field studies on four continents more than 1,2

SUBMITTER: Mayer WE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1929057 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature