Most C. elegans biology is studied under one standard laboratory. condition in one reference genetic background (N2). However, its ecological. and evolutionary framework matters to understand the evolutionary origin of. the mechanisms studied in the laboratory.. C. elegans mostly proliferates in rotting fruits (Barriere and Felix,. Genetics 2007). The examination of C. elegans and C. briggsae individuals. taken directly from rotting fruits samples shows that:. 1. fungi in addition to bacteria can be found in the intestine;. 2. constipation is a recurrent problem;. 3. individuals of some populations are infected by various pathogens,. some of which are unidentified and produce abnormal phenotypes,. such as intestinal cell fusion.. A library of bacterial, fungal and slime mold strains was constructed. from individual rotting fruits from which C. elegans and C. briggsae were. also isolated. The microbes are identified by sequencing a fragment of. 16S/18S rDNA. This library includes putative food and pathogens.. Caenorhabditis species were isolated from wild and domesticated. rotting fruits collected worldwide. We will report on the isolation,. culture and preliminary phylogenetic position of several putative new. Caenorhabditis species of the Elegans group (so far including C. elegans,. C. briggsae, C. remanei and C. brenneri). These new species include:. - C. sp. 5 JU727 (China), a close relative of C. briggsae with a. gonochoristic (male/female) mode of reproduction. - C. sp. 7 JU1199, gonochoristic, a putative outgroup to the four. described species (which is much easier to culture than the next outgroup,. C. japonica). - C. sp. 9 JU1325 and C. sp. 10 JU1333, two gonochoristic species. from India - C. sp. 11, a hermaphroditic species from La Reunion (an. island next to Madagascar).. I am happy to distribute strains. See
http://www2.ijm.jussieu.fr/worms for. worm strains. I thank V. Robert, M. Hermann, J. Milloz and many others for. collecting samples, I. Nuez for technical help and E. Troemel and J.. Hodgkin for characterization of two associated microbes (see abstract by. Hodgkin et al.).. Lab priority: If you wish a single talk per lab, I would put F. Duveau''s. abstract as a priority.