Using Caenorhabditis to Explore the Evolution of the Germ Line

Haag, Eric S.; Liu, Qinwen

doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-4015-4_14

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 118 publications

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“…The sex determination system of C. elegans can be manipulated genetically to change the XO chromosomal system to create neo‐sex chromosomes to mimic XY, ZW or environmental sex determination systems (Chandler, Chadderdon, Phillips, Dworkin, & Janzen, ; Hodgkin, ). Similar approaches should be feasible in other species (Haag & Liu, ). Experimental tests of hypotheses about the role of sex chromosomes in the evolution of reproductive isolation may be attainable in Caenorhabditis by combining experimental evolution with divergent adaptation regimens and genetic manipulations of chromosomal sex determination.…”

Section: Speciation In the Laboratory And Speciation In The Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

X exceptionalism in Caenorhabditis speciation

Cutter

2017

Molecular Ecology

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Speciation genetics research in diverse organisms shows the X-chromosome to be exceptional in how it contributes to "rules" of speciation. Until recently, however, the nematode phylum has been nearly silent on this issue, despite the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans having touched most other topics in biology. Studies of speciation with Caenorhabditis accelerated with the recent discovery of species pairs showing partial interfertility. The resulting genetic analyses of reproductive isolation in nematodes demonstrate key roles for the X-chromosome in hybrid male sterility and inviability, opening up new understanding of the genetic causes of Haldane's rule, Darwin's corollary to Haldane's rule, and enabling tests of the large-X effect hypothesis. Studies to date implicate improper chromatin regulation of the X-chromosome by small RNA pathways as integral to hybrid male dysfunction. Sexual transitions in reproductive mode to self-fertilizing hermaphroditism inject distinctive molecular evolutionary features into the speciation process for some species. Caenorhabditis also provides unique opportunities for analysis in a system with XO sex determination that lacks a Y-chromosome, sex chromosome-dependent sperm competition differences and mechanisms of gametic isolation, exceptional accessibility to the development process and rapid experimental evolution. As genetic analysis of reproductive isolation matures with investigation of multiple pairs of Caenorhabditis species and new species discovery, nematodes will provide a powerful complement to more established study organisms for deciphering the genetic basis of and rules to speciation.

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Section: Speciation In the Laboratory And Speciation In The Wildmentioning

confidence: 99%

X exceptionalism in Caenorhabditis speciation

Cutter

2017

Molecular Ecology

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“…Haag and Liu (2012), in Chapter 14, discuss how translational control and the rapid evolution of binding sites in mRNA targets, for RNA binding protein regulators, likely contributed to evolutionary differences in germline sex determination in the Caenorhabditis clade.…”

Section: Gene Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This volume represents the current state of knowledge in the quest for understanding the reproductive system in C. elegans , an organism that exists primarily as a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite. The chapters are organized from the earliest inkling of germline development in the P lineage of the embryo (Wang and Seydoux, 2012, Chapter 2) to evolutionary comparisons between C. elegans reproduction and their closest relatives (Haag and Liu, 2012, Chapter 14). Each chapter focuses upon different aspects or processes in germ cell development and differentiation, the genetic and molecular events that are known to be involved with each process, and comparisons with other organisms.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction to Germ Cell Development in Caenorhabditis elegans

Pazdernik

Schedl

2012

Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology

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A central feature of the continuum of life in sexually reproducing metazoans is the cycle of the germline from one generation to the next. This volume describes the cycle of the germline for Caenorhabditis elegans, through chapters that are focused on distinct aspects or processes in germ cell development. Topics include sequential and dependent processes such as specification of germ cells as distinct from somatic cells, sex determination, stem cell proliferative fate versus meiotic development decision, recombination/ progression through meiotic prophase, contemporaneous processes such as gametogenesis, meiotic development and apoptosis, and continuing the cycle into the next generation through fertilization and the oocyte-to-embryo-transition. Throughout germ cell development, translational control and epigenetic mechanisms play prominent roles. These different aspects of germ cell development are seamlessly integrated under optimal conditions and are modified in the different reproductive strategies that are employed by C. elegans under harsh environmental conditions. In this chapter we set the stage by providing a brief background on the C. elegans system and germ cell development, indicating processes in the cycle of the germline that are covered in each chapter.

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“…The record of natural selection in shaping the genetic basis to organismal form and function of a species is inscribed in the genomes of its constituent individuals. Comparisons of genome sequences for each of the related nematodes Caenorhabditis elegans and C. briggsae have revealed powerful insights into the evolution of functional novelty and constraint in phenotypes and genetic pathways (Cutter et al 2009; Marri and Gupta 2009; Thomas et al 2012; Haag and Liu 2013; Verster et al 2014). The high quality C. briggsae genome assembly facilitated such analysis (Stein et al 2003; Hillier et al 2007; Ross et al 2011), and genomic analysis of populations of individuals provides a powerful means to further characterize evolution on contemporary timescales to understand the origins of novelty and constraint (Langley et al 2012; The 1000 Genomes Project Consortium 2012; Brandvain et al 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Full-genome evolutionary histories of selfing, splitting and selection inCaenorhabditis

Thomas

Wang

Jovelin

et al. 2014

Preprint

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The nematode Caenorhabditis briggsae is a model for comparative developmental evolution with C. elegans. Worldwide collections of C. briggsae have implicated an intriguing history of divergence among genetic groups separated by latitude, or by restricted geography, that is being exploited to dissect the genetic basis to adaptive evolution and reproductive incompatibility. And yet, the genomic scope and timing of population divergence is unclear. We performed high-coverage whole-genome sequencing of 37 wild isolates of the nematode C. briggsae and applied a pairwise sequentially Markovian coalescent (PSMC) model to 703 combinations of genomic haplotypes to draw inferences about population history, the genomic scope of natural selection, and to compare with 40 wild isolates of C. elegans. We estimate that a diaspora of at least 6 distinct C. briggsae lineages separated from one another approximately 200 thousand generations ago, including the ‘Temperate’ and ‘Tropical’ phylogeographic groups that dominate most samples from around the world. Moreover, an ancient population split in its history 2 million generations ago, coupled with only rare gene flow among lineage groups, validates this system as a model for incipient speciation. Low versus high recombination regions of the genome give distinct signatures of population size change through time, indicative of widespread effects of selection on highly linked portions of the genome owing to extreme inbreeding by self-fertilization. Analysis of functional mutations indicates that genomic context, owing to selection that acts on long linkage blocks, is a more important driver of population variation than are the functional attributes of the individually encoded genes.

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Using Caenorhabditis to Explore the Evolution of the Germ Line

Cited by 6 publications

References 118 publications

X exceptionalism in Caenorhabditis speciation

X exceptionalism in Caenorhabditis speciation

Introduction to Germ Cell Development in Caenorhabditis elegans

Full-genome evolutionary histories of selfing, splitting and selection inCaenorhabditis

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