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<p>
<italic>Pristionchus pacificus</italic> has emerged as an important nematode species used to understand the evolution of development and behavior. While <italic>P. pacificus</italic> (Diplogasteridae) is only distantly related to <italic>Caenorhabditis elegans</italic> (Rhabditidae), both use an identical reproductive strategy, are easily reared on bacteria in Petri dishes and complete their life cycles within a few days. Over the past 25 years, several detailed light and electron microscopy studies have elucidated the anatomy of <italic>P. pacificus</italic> and have demonstrated clear homology to many cells in <italic>C. elegans</italic>. Despite this similarity, sufficient anatomical differences between <italic>C. elegans</italic> and <italic>P. pacificus</italic> have allowed the latter to be used in comparative evo-devo studies. For example, the stoma of <italic>P. pacificus</italic> contains a large dorsal tooth used during predation on other nematodes when supplementing its primarily bacterial diet. This review discusses the main anatomical features of <italic>P. pacificus</italic> with emphasis on comparison to <italic>C. elegans.</italic>
</p>
</abstract>

Pristionchus pacificus has emerged as an important nematode species used to understand the evolution of development and behavior. While P. pacificus (Diplogasteridae) is only distantly related to Caenorhabditis elegans (Rhabditidae), both use an identical reproductive strategy, are easily reared on bacteria in Petri dishes and complete their life cycles within a few days. Over the past 25 years, several detailed light and electron microscopy studies have elucidated the anatomy of P. pacificus and have demonstrated clear homology to many cells in C. elegans. Despite this similarity, sufficient anatomical differences between C. elegans and P. pacificus have allowed the latter to be used in comparative evo-devo studies. For example, the stoma of P. pacificus contains a large dorsal tooth used during predation on other nematodes when supplementing its primarily bacterial diet. This review discusses the main anatomical features of P. pacificus with emphasis on comparison to C. elegans.

<article-title xml:lang="en">Introduction to <italic>Pristionchus pacificus</italic> anatomy

Journal of Nematology

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Pristionchus pacificus has emerged as an important nematode species used to understand the evolution of development and behavior. While P. pacificus...

Introduction to Pristionchus pacificus anatomy

Published Online: Nov 03, 2021

Page range: 1 - 9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2021-091

Keywords
Cytology, Electron microscopy, Free-living nematode, Morphology, Ultrastructure, WormAtlas

© 2021 Nathan E. Schroeder et al., published by Sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Introduction to Pristionchus pacificus anatomy

Published Online: Nov 03, 2021

Page range: 1 - 9

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21307/jofnem-2021-091

KeywordsCytology, Electron microscopy, Free-living nematode, Morphology, Ultrastructure, WormAtlas

© 2021 Nathan E. Schroeder et al., published by Sciendo.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Cytology, Electron microscopy, Free-living nematode, Morphology, Ultrastructure, WormAtlas