Evolution of the nervous system in nematodes - a comparative immunohistochemical approach

线虫是一个物种丰富的分类单元，尽管有一些教科书的简化，形态多样。它们的神经系统已经在一些模式物种如秀丽隐杆线虫和蛔虫物种中进行了详细的研究。从更广泛的分类学采样的零星数据表明，神经系统的精细结构，特别是大脑的架构（环神经堆周围的胞体分布）和躯干中的正交图案的存在可能会有所不同。这对于与Cycloneuralia内密切相关的分类群进行比较是重要的，因为神经系统的结构被认为是支持该分类群内系统发育关系的重要特征。了解线虫和cycloneuralians祖先的神经系统结构对于讨论Ecdysozoa中进化的szenaria也是重要的。 理想的工具，重建神经系统的拓扑结构的免疫组化方法结合共聚焦激光扫描显微镜。这种方法已成功地用于不同的其他类群，但很少在线虫物种。我们建议比较一些线虫物种与一组神经元标记物（FMRFamides，血清素，三种不同形式的微管蛋白）结合标记物的肌肉组织（鬼笔环肽）和细胞核（DAPI），以产生一组可比的数据，涵盖广泛的分类群之间的线虫采样。在物种收集和鉴定方面，我们的目标是与来自德国、比利时和西班牙的科学家合作。

Nematodes are a taxon rich in species and, despite some textbook simplifications, morphologically diverse. Their nervous system has been investigated in detail in few model species such as Caenorhabditis elegans and Ascaris species. Sporadic data from a broader taxonomical sampling indicate that the fine structure of the nervous system, in particular the architecture of the brain (the distribution of somata around a ring neuropile) and the presence of orthogonal patterns in the trunk may vary. This is of importance for comparisons with closely related taxa within Cycloneuralia, because the structure of the nervous system is considered to be an important character supporting phylogenetic relationships within this taxon. Knowing the structure of the nervous system in the ancestor of nematodes and cycloneuralians is also important for the discussion of evolutive szenaria among Ecdysozoa. Ideal tools to reconstruct the topology of nervous systems are immunohistochemical methods in combination with confocal laser scanning microscopy. Such methods have been used successfully in diverse other taxa, but very little in nematode species. We suggest to compare a number of nematode species with a set of neuronal markers (FMRFamides, serotonin, three different forms of tubulin) in combination with markers for the musculature (phalloidin) and nuclei (DAPI) to produce a comparable set of data covering a broad taxon sampling among nematodes. For species collection and determination we aim to collaborate with scientists from Germany, Belgium and Spain.