The gene regulatory program of reveals conservation of phylum-specific expression.

The evolution of development has been studied through the lens of gene regulation by examining either closely related species or extremely distant animals of different phyla. In nematodes, detailed cell- and stage-specific expression analyses are focused on the model , in part leading to the view that the developmental expression of gene cascades in this species is archetypic for the phylum. Here, we compared two species of an intermediate evolutionary distance: the nematodes (clade V) and (clade IV).

The genome of Romanomermis culicivorax: revealing fundamental changes in the core developmental genetic toolkit in Nematoda.

Background: The genetics of development in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been described in exquisite detail. The phylum Nematoda has two classes: Chromadorea (which includes C. elegans) and the Enoplea.