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Resources » Paper

Stegeman, Gregory et al. (2011) International Worm Meeting "Variation in temperature-dependent behaviours among natural isolates of Caenorhabditis briggsae."

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  • Comments on Stegeman, Gregory et al. (2011) International Worm Meeting "Variation in temperature-dependent behaviours among natural isolates of Caenorhabditis briggsae." (0)

  • Overview

    Status:
    Publication type:
    Meeting_abstract
    WormBase ID:
    WBPaper00039417

    Stegeman, Gregory, Shin, Jiwon, Lin, Nan, Bueno De Mesquita, Matthew, Cutter, Asher, & Ryu, William (2011). Variation in temperature-dependent behaviours among natural isolates of Caenorhabditis briggsae presented in International Worm Meeting. Unpublished information; cite only with author permission.

    Natural genetic variation allows the discovery of new gene functions and novel alleles for genes already known to act in biologically important processes. We are applying this approach to temperature-dependent behaviours in nematode worms in order to better understand the genetics behind behaviour. We focus on Caenorhabditis briggsae because most wild caught individuals fall into two genetically distinct clades that correspond approximately with northern temperate or with tropical latitiudes. Interestingly, strains from the tropical clade have higher fecundity when reared at higher temperature than do the temperate strains, suggesting local adaptation to climate variables like temperature (Prasad et al. 2011). Movement through its thermal landscape is the main way for nematodes like C. briggsae to regulate body temperature, so we also expect to see heritable differences in temperature-dependent behaviours. Here we quantify for the first time classic thermal-response behaviours among several C. briggsae wild strains from different haplotype groups using assays like accumulation on a linear thermal gradient, isothermal tracking, and a new droplet based thermal gradient assay. We demonstrate that C. briggsae shows thermotaxis and isothermal tracking similar to C. elegans but with some differences. We also identify heritable differences among strains from wild genetic backgrounds within C. briggsae. We will continue to develop higher throughput assays for temperature-dependent behaviour in order to carry out a quantitative trait loci mapping project using recombinant inbred lines derived from tropical and temperate parental strains. Prasad, A., M. Croydon-Sugarman, R.L. Murray & A.D. Cutter. 2011. Temperature-dependent fecundity associates with latitude in Caenorhabditis briggsae. Evolution. 65: 52-63.

    Affiliations:
    - Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto
    - Banting and Best Department of Medical Research, University of Toronto
    - Department of Physics, University of Toronto


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