ArticleNature ecology & evolution2021
Balancing selection maintains hyper-divergent haplotypes in Caenorhabditis elegans.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 114 papers.
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114 citing papers in PubMed, 161 citations in OpenAlex.
- T2T genomes ofGenome research · 2026Article
- Virulent Parasites Emerge in Hosts With Rising Temperatures.Global change biology · 2026Article
- DivergenteLife · 2026Article
- A gap-free, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly for the Caenorhabditis briggsae reference strain AF16.G3 (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Article
- Repeated mutation of a GT92 glycosyltransferase gene confers antiviral resistance in two Caenorhabditis species.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Network Properties Influence Covariance Between Gene Expression and Fecundity Fitness of Caenorhabditis elegans in a Novel Laboratory Environment.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Population structure and punctuated genomic hyper-diversity in Caenorhabditis briggsae.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- A Male Expressed Copulatory Plug Increases Female Fertility inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- High Rate of Mutation and Efficient Removal by Selection of Structural Variants From Natural Populations of Caenorhabditis Elegans.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Defense against parasites covaries with reproductive timing, not with resistance.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Article
- Caenorhabditis diversity on Pohnpei, Micronesia, provides evidence that the Elegans Supergroup has its roots in the Americas and diversified in the Pacific en route to Asia.Evolution; international journal of organic evolution · 2026Article
- A gap-free, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly for thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Genomic sequence and structural variations accumulating between laboratory lineages of wild typebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Repeated mutation of a GT92 glycosyltransferase gene confers antiviral resistance in twobioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Global genomic diversity of the selfing nematodebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Parasite defense covaries with reproductive timing, not with resistance.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Natural variation suggests candidate genes underlying Caenorhabditis elegans susceptibility to diverse toxicants.Toxicological sciences : an official journal of the Society of Toxicology · 2026Article
- Pangenome analysis reveals families of ubiquitin-ligase adaptors as key genomic divergence drivers that lead to hybrid incompatibility.Genome research · 2026Article
- Allelic Variation at tRNA Genes in Three Nematode Species Indicates Mutation Load Despite Strong Purifying Selection.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
54 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
15 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Across diverse taxa, selfing species have evolved independently from outcrossing species thousands of times. The transition from outcrossing to selfing decreases the effective population size, effective recombination rate and heterozygosity within a species. These changes lead to a reduction in genetic diversity, and therefore adaptive potential, by intensifying the effects of random genetic drift and linked selection. Within the nematode genus Caenorhabditis, selfing has evolved at least three times, and all three species, including the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, show substantially reduced genetic diversity relative to outcrossing species. Selfing and outcrossing Caenorhabditis species are often found in the same niches, but we still do not know how selfing species with limited genetic diversity can adapt to these environments. Here, we examine the whole-genome sequences from 609 wild C. elegans strains isolated worldwide and show that genetic variation is concentrated in punctuated hyper-divergent regions that cover 20% of the C. elegans reference genome. These regions are enriched in environmental response genes that mediate sensory perception, pathogen response and xenobiotic stress response. Population genomic evidence suggests that genetic diversity in these regions has been maintained by long-term balancing selection. Using long-read genome assemblies for 15 wild strains, we show that hyper-divergent haplotypes contain unique sets of genes and show levels of divergence comparable to levels found between Caenorhabditis species that diverged millions of years ago. These results provide an example of how species can avoid the evolutionary dead end associated with selfing.
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