Major changes in the core developmental pathways of nematodes: Romanomermis culicivorax reveals the derived status of the Caenorhabditis elegans model Philipp H. Schiffer1y, Michael Kroiher1, Christopher Kraus1, Georgios D. Koutsovoulos2,Sujai Kumar2, Julia I. R. Camps1, Ndifon A. Nsah1, Dominik Stappert3, Krystalynne Morris4, Peter Heger1, Janine Altm¨uller5, Peter Frommolt5, Peter N¨urnberg5, W. Kelley Thomas4, Mark L. Blaxter2 and Einhard Schierenberg1 y corresponding author: PHS - ORCiD:0000-0001-6776-0934 - p.schiff
[email protected] 1. Zoologisches Institut, Universit¨atzu K¨oln,Cologne, NRW, Germany 2. Institute of Evolutionary Biology, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Edinburgh, Edin- burgh, Scotland, UK 3. Institute f¨urEntwicklungsbiologie, Universit¨atzu K¨oln,Cologne, NRW, Germany 4. Hubbard Center for Genome Studies, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA 5. Cologne Center for Genomics,PREPRINT Universit¨atzu K¨oln,Cologne, NRW, ONLY Germany arXiv:1303.4053v1 [q-bio.GN] 17 Mar 2013 1 Keywords: nematode, genome, Mermithida, development, Caenorhabditis Abstract Background Despite its status as a model organism, the development of Caenorhabditis elegans is not necessarily archetypical for nematodes. The phylum Nematoda is divided into the Chromadorea (indcludes C. elegans) and the Enoplea. Compared to C. elegans, enoplean nematodes have very different patterns of cell division and determination. Embryogenesis of the enoplean Romanomermis culicivorax has been studied in great detail, but the genetic circuitry underpinning development in this species is unknown. Results We created a draft genome of R. culicivorax and compared its developmental gene content with that of two nematodes, C. elegans and Trichinella spiralis (another enoplean), and a representative arthropod Tribolium castaneum.