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Alternative morphs and plasticity of vulval development in a rhabditid nematode species

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Abstract

The nematode species Rhabditis sp. SB347 (Family Rhabditidae) in standard culture conditions displays two developmental morphs with distinct modes of sexual reproduction: (1) females and males that develop through four feeding juvenile (“larval”) stages; (2) self-fertile protandric hermaphrodites that develop through an obligatory non-feeding third juvenile stage, the “dauer” larva. In females and males, somatic gonad development begins in the first larval stage, whereas in hermaphrodites it is delayed to the second larval stage. Vulval development also differs between females and hermaphrodites: (1) the P8.p cell divides in females but stays undivided in hermaphrodites; (2) the number, timing, and source of inductive signals from the gonad to the vulval precursor cells differ between the two morphs. These results show that discrete vulva developmental routes can be adopted by animals of the same genotype.

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Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to E. Zhioua, W. Sudhaus and K. Kiontke for the SB347 strain, to A. Barrière for determining the hermaphrodite vulval lineage and thereby triggering my interest in this species, and to K. Kiontke and D. Fitch for discussions and communication of unpublished results. Many thanks to K. Kiontke, D. Fitch, B. Podbilewicz, M.-L. Dichtel-Danjoy and W. Sudhaus for helpful comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by an HFSP grant.

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  1. Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, Universités Paris 6 et 7, Tour 43, 2 place Jussieu, 75251, Paris cedex 05, France

    Marie-Anne Félix

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  1. Marie-Anne Félix
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Correspondence to Marie-Anne Félix.

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Edited by D. Tautz

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Félix, MA. Alternative morphs and plasticity of vulval development in a rhabditid nematode species. Dev Genes Evol 214, 55–63 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00427-003-0376-y

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