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ECB-ART-50187
Curr Top Dev Biol 2009 Jan 01;86:43-66. doi: 10.1016/S0070-2153(09)01003-5.
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Chapter 3. Caenorhabditis nematodes as a model for the adaptive evolution of germ cells.

Haag ES .


Abstract
A number of major adaptations in animals have been mediated by alteration of germ cells and their immediate derivatives, the gametes. Here, several such cases are discussed, including examples from echinoderms, vertebrates, insects, and nematodes. A feature of germ cells that make their development (and hence evolution) distinct from the soma is the prominent role played by posttranscriptional controls of mRNA translation in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation. This presents a number of special challenges for investigation of the evolution of germline development. Caenorhabditis nematodes represent a particularly favorable system for addressing these challenges, both because of technical advantages and (most importantly) because of natural variation in mating system that is rooted in alterations of germline sex determination. Recent studies that employ comparative genetic methods in this rapidly maturing system are discussed, and likely areas for future progress are identified.

PubMed ID: 19361689
PMC ID: PMC2931411
Article link: Curr Top Dev Biol
Grant support: [+]


References [+] :
Ahringer, Control of the sperm-oocyte switch in Caenorhabditis elegans hermaphrodites by the fem-3 3' untranslated region. 1991, Pubmed