TY - JOUR
T1 - Discovery of a free-living nematode phylogenetically related to vertebrate parasites of the genus Strongyloides (Nematoda : Strongyloidoidea)
T2 - morphological, anatomical and molecular characterisation
AU - Huang, Ren E.
AU - Li, Runsheng
AU - Zhao, Zhongying
N1 - Funding information:
This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 31201700) to Ren-E Huang, and by the Early Career Scheme (ECS) (Grant No. HKBU 263512) and General Research Fund (HKBU12103314) of Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) and the Faculty Research Grant (FRG2/13–14/063) to Zhongying Zhao. The first author is very grateful to Junbiao Dai (School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University) for hosting Ren-E Huang as a postdoctoral fellow in his laboratory with generous support. We thank Wai Shing Chung, Xiaoliang Ren and Yifei Qiu (Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University) for their kind help with preparation of samples, culture media and reagents.
Publisher copyright:
© 2016 The authors.
PY - 2016/8/31
Y1 - 2016/8/31
N2 - Nematodes are important, largely because they frequently act as parasites and threaten the health of plants, animals and even humans. Here, we describe an interesting free-living nematode from land snails on Luofu Mountain, Guangdong, China. Alloionema luofuensis, sp. nov. is phylogenetically related to slug-parasite A. appendiculatum and the well-known vertebrate parasites Strongyloides spp. based on small subunit (SSU) and the D2-D3 domain of large subunit (LSU) rDNA sequences. The new species possesses an extremely transparent body and is easily maintained using C. elegans culture media, suggesting a possible application prospect of this free-living nematode as a comparative model system for its related parasites. Morphology and anatomy of the gonochoristic A. luofuensis, sp. nov. adult were described and illustrated. The species is characterised by a filiform tail bisexually, 'rhabditiform' oesophagus and 'rhabditid-like' female anatomy, but its male caudal region is completely different from that of typical rhabditid nematodes, being absent from an enveloping bursa. It is the first marker taxon characterised morphologically as well as molecularly from the family Alloionematidae, a group of nematodes with hyperdiverse molecular genetic variations underlying highly conserved anatomy. Further molecular and genetic studies on A. luofuensis, sp. nov. populations hold promise to provide insight into evolution of the clade consisting of vertebrate parasites of the heterogonic nematode genus Strongyloides. This is because of its unusual high levels of heterozygosity maintained by the conserved rRNA genes of partial SSU and the D2-D3 domain of LSU for the type isolate of this species.
AB - Nematodes are important, largely because they frequently act as parasites and threaten the health of plants, animals and even humans. Here, we describe an interesting free-living nematode from land snails on Luofu Mountain, Guangdong, China. Alloionema luofuensis, sp. nov. is phylogenetically related to slug-parasite A. appendiculatum and the well-known vertebrate parasites Strongyloides spp. based on small subunit (SSU) and the D2-D3 domain of large subunit (LSU) rDNA sequences. The new species possesses an extremely transparent body and is easily maintained using C. elegans culture media, suggesting a possible application prospect of this free-living nematode as a comparative model system for its related parasites. Morphology and anatomy of the gonochoristic A. luofuensis, sp. nov. adult were described and illustrated. The species is characterised by a filiform tail bisexually, 'rhabditiform' oesophagus and 'rhabditid-like' female anatomy, but its male caudal region is completely different from that of typical rhabditid nematodes, being absent from an enveloping bursa. It is the first marker taxon characterised morphologically as well as molecularly from the family Alloionematidae, a group of nematodes with hyperdiverse molecular genetic variations underlying highly conserved anatomy. Further molecular and genetic studies on A. luofuensis, sp. nov. populations hold promise to provide insight into evolution of the clade consisting of vertebrate parasites of the heterogonic nematode genus Strongyloides. This is because of its unusual high levels of heterozygosity maintained by the conserved rRNA genes of partial SSU and the D2-D3 domain of LSU for the type isolate of this species.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84984851152&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1071/IS15048
DO - 10.1071/IS15048
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84984851152
SN - 1445-5226
VL - 30
SP - 387
EP - 397
JO - Invertebrate Systematics
JF - Invertebrate Systematics
IS - 4
ER -
