''Caenorhabditis remanei'' is a species of
nematode
The nematodes ( or ; ; ), roundworms or eelworms constitute the phylum Nematoda. Species in the phylum inhabit a broad range of environments. Most species are free-living, feeding on microorganisms, but many are parasitic. Parasitic worms (h ...
found in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
and
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, and likely lives throughout the
temperate
In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
world. Several strains have been developed in the laboratory.
[''C. remanei''.]
The Genome Center at Washington University.
Habitat
This 1-mm nematode lives in
soil
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...
,
compost
Compost is a mixture of ingredients used as plant fertilizer and to improve soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties. It is commonly prepared by Decomposition, decomposing plant and food waste, recycling organic materials, and man ...
, and similar materials, where it consumes
bacteria
Bacteria (; : bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of Prokaryote, prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micr ...
. It may be found in association with soil-living invertebrates such as
snail
A snail is a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial molluscs, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gas ...
s,
slug
Slug, or land slug, is a common name for any apparently shell-less Terrestrial mollusc, terrestrial gastropod mollusc. The word ''slug'' is also often used as part of the common name of any gastropod mollusc that has no shell, a very reduced ...
s, and
pill bugs.
[ It lives with the snail '' Fruticicola sieboldiana'' in ]Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. It has been associated with the isopod
Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...
s '' Trachelipus rathkii'', '' Armadillidium nasatum'', '' Cylisticus convexus'', and '' Porcellio scaber'' in Ohio
Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
.[Baird, S. E. (1999)]
Natural and experimental associations of ''Caenorhabditis remanei'' with ''Trachelipus rathkii'' and other terrestrial isopods.
''Nematology'' 1:5 471.
Genetics
The genome
A genome is all the genetic information of an organism. It consists of nucleotide sequences of DNA (or RNA in RNA viruses). The nuclear genome includes protein-coding genes and non-coding genes, other functional regions of the genome such as ...
of this nematode has been sequenced, and it was found to contain about 26,000 gene
In biology, the word gene has two meanings. The Mendelian gene is a basic unit of heredity. The molecular gene is a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that is transcribed to produce a functional RNA. There are two types of molecular genes: protei ...
s.[Haag, E. S., ''et al.'' (2008)]
''Caenorhabditis'' evolution: if they all look alike, you aren’t looking hard enough.
''Trends in Genetics'' 23:3.
This species groups with '' C. latens'' in the 'Elegans' supergroup in phylogenetic studies.
Mating and reproduction
Unlike many other ''Caenorhabditis'' species, which are hermaphrodite
A hermaphrodite () is a sexually reproducing organism that produces both male and female gametes. Animal species in which individuals are either male or female are gonochoric, which is the opposite of hermaphroditic.
The individuals of many ...
s,[ ''C. remanei'' has both males and females. The male of this species employs a mating plug.][Timmermeyer, N., ''et al.'' (2010)]
The function of copulatory plugs in ''Caenorhabditis remanei'': hints for female benefits.
''Frontiers in Zoology'' 7:28. This species can hybridize with ''Caenorhabditis brenneri
''Caenorhabditis brenneri'' is a small nematode, closely related to the model organism ''Caenorhabditis elegans''. Its genome is being sequenced by Washington University in St. Louis Genome Sequencing Center. This species has previously been re ...
'', but only when ''C. remanei'' males mate with ''C. brenneri'' females, and then the offspring are apparently sterile.[Sudhaus, W. and K. Kiontke. (2007)]
Comparison of the cryptic nematode species ''Caenorhabditis brenneri'' sp. n. and ''C. remanei'' (Nematoda: Rhabditidae) with the stem species pattern of the ''Caenorhabditis elegans'' group.
''Zootaxa'' 1456 45-62.
When ''C. remanei'' individuals that were derived from recently isolated natural populations were inbred they showed dramatic reductions in brood size and relative fitness compared to outcrossed individuals.
References
External links
''C. remanei'' Genome Sequencing.
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5016840
remanei
Invertebrates of North America
Parasitic nematodes of animals