Biology and genome of a newly discovered sibling species of Caenorhabditis elegans

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05712-5
• Publication Date: 2018-08-06T16:44:59Z
• Authors: Natsumi Kanzaki; Isheng J. Tsai; Ryusei Tanaka; Vicky L. Hunt; Dang Liu; Kenji Tsuyama; Yasunobu Maeda; Satoshi Namai; Ryohei Kumagai; Alan Tracey; Nancy Holroyd; Stephen R. Doyle; Gavin C. Woodruff; Kazunori Murase; Hiromi Kitazume; Cynthia Chai; Allison Akagi; Oishika Panda; Huei-Mien Ke; Frank C. Schroeder; John Wang; Matthew Berriman; Paul W. Sternberg; Asako Sugimoto; Taisei Kikuchi
• Keywords: Caenorhabditis; Model Organism

Abstract A ‘sibling’ species of the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has long been sought for use in comparative analyses that would enable deep evolutionary interpretations biological phenomena. Here, we describe first sibling C . , C. inopinata n. sp., isolated from fig syconia Okinawa, Japan. We investigate morphology, developmental processes and behaviour which differ significantly those The 123-Mb genome was sequenced assembled into six nuclear chromosomes, allowing delineation evolution revealing unique characteristics, such as highly expanded transposable elements might have contributed to In addition, exhibits massive gene losses chemoreceptor families, could be correlated with its limited habitat area. developed genetic molecular techniques ; thus provides an exciting new platform studies.