Systematics of Free-living Rhabditina (Nematoda)

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The project seeks to build a framework for evolutionary and systematic work in the rhabditid nematodes, a globally distributed group of free-living terrestrial roundworms. This project focuses on two species groups (clades), Eurhabditis and Pleiorhabditis. The primary objectives are to resolve evolutionary trees using multigene sequences; to elucidate the evolution of morphological characters in order to determine which features best diagnose different taxonomic groups; and to build an online database and key in order to make all this information freely and globally available.Their diversity, significant role in organic decomposition, usefulness as bioindicators, the associations they make with other species, and the sheer abundance of species and individuals make rhabditid nematodes an important taxon, yet it is one of the neediest for systematic work and data-sharing resources. This project provides a systematic framework for a growing number of comparative and evolutionary studies of rhabditid development, behavior, reproduction, and genome structure and function, because the group includes the model genetic organism Caenorhabditis elegans and "satellite" models such as Pristionchus pacificus, Oscheius tipulae, and others. In the process of this project, graduate and undergraduate students and a postdoctoral researcher will be trained in rhabditid systematics, preventing the extinction of expertise in this field.