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

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 () and Taisei Kikuchi ()
Additional contact information
Natsumi Kanzaki: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
Isheng J. Tsai: Academia Sinica
Ryusei Tanaka: University of Miyazaki
Vicky L. Hunt: University of Miyazaki
Dang Liu: Academia Sinica
Kenji Tsuyama: Tohoku University
Yasunobu Maeda: University of Miyazaki
Satoshi Namai: Tohoku University
Ryohei Kumagai: Tohoku University
Alan Tracey: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Nancy Holroyd: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Stephen R. Doyle: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Gavin C. Woodruff: Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
Kazunori Murase: University of Miyazaki
Hiromi Kitazume: University of Miyazaki
Cynthia Chai: Caltech
Allison Akagi: Caltech
Oishika Panda: Cornell University
Huei-Mien Ke: Academia Sinica
Frank C. Schroeder: Cornell University
John Wang: Academia Sinica
Matthew Berriman: Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Paul W. Sternberg: Caltech
Asako Sugimoto: Tohoku University
Taisei Kikuchi: University of Miyazaki

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-12

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

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-05712-5

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