Evolution of lateralized gustation in nematodes.

Animals with small nervous systems have a limited number of sensory neurons that must encode information from a changing environment. This problem is particularly exacerbated in nematodes that populate a wide variety of distinct ecological niches but only have a few sensory neurons available to encode multiple modalities. How does sensory diversity prevail within this neuronal constraint? To identify the genetic basis for patterning different nervous systems, we demonstrate that sensory neurons in the respond to various salt sensory cues in a manner that is partially distinct from that of the distantly related nematode .

Flexible reprogramming of Pristionchus pacificus motivation for attacking Caenorhabditis elegans in predator-prey competition.

Animals with diverse diets must adapt their food priorities to a wide variety of environmental conditions. This diet optimization problem is especially complex for predators that compete with prey for food. Although predator-prey competition is widespread and ecologically critical, it remains difficult to disentangle predatory and competitive motivations for attacking competing prey.

Intraguild predation between and : a complex interaction with the potential for aggressive behaviour.

The related nematodes and both eat bacteria for nutrition and are therefore competitors when they exploit the same bacterial resource. In addition to competing with each other, is a predator of larval prey. These two relationships together form intraguild predation, which is the killing and sometimes eating of potential competitors.