Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42515817›Full record

ArticleGenetics2026

Global genomic diversity of the selfing nematode Caenorhabditis tropicalis correlates with geography.

Bowen Wang, Nicolas D Moya, Robyn E Tanny, Michael E G Sauria, Lance M O'Connor, Ayeh Khorshidian, Ryan McKeown, Lewis Stevens, Claire Buchanan, Timothy A Crombie and 18 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Genetics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. A Male Expressed Copulatory Plug Increases Female Fertility inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. A gap-free, telomere-to-telomere genome assembly for thebioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026
    Article
  5. FLInt inmicroPublication biology · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

28 authors.

Bowen WangDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-5794-2144
Nicolas D MoyaDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
Robyn E TannyDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
Michael E G SauriaDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
Lance M O'ConnorDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.ORCID 0009-0007-1373-183X
Ayeh KhorshidianDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
Ryan McKeownDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Lewis StevensTree of Life, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton CB10 1RQ, United Kingdom.
Claire BuchananDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Timothy A CrombieDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-5645-4154
Clayton DilksDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Kathryn S EvansDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Daniel E CookDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-3347-562X
Gaotian ZhangDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Loraina A StinsonDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Nicole M RobertoDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Daehan LeeDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-0546-8484
Stefan ZdraljevicDepartment of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, United States.
Charlie GosseInstitut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Inserm, Paris 75005, France.
Clotilde GimondInstitut de Biologie Valrose, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, IBV, Nice 06108, France.
Mu-En ChenBiodiversity Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.
Viet Dai DangInstitute of Advanced Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Hanoi, Vietnam.ORCID 0000-0002-3462-9419
John WangBiodiversity Research Center, Academia Sinica, Taipei 115201, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0002-6179-775X
Asher D CutterDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S3B2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0001-7141-0013
Matthew V RockmanDepartment of Biology and Center for Genomics & Systems Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, United States.
Marie-Anne FélixInstitut de Biologie de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, CNRS, Inserm, Paris 75005, France.
Christian BraendleInstitut de Biologie Valrose, Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS, Inserm, IBV, Nice 06108, France.
Erik C AndersenDepartment of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.

Funding

Discovery of conserved molecular mechanisms underlying population-wide variation in toxin responsesR01ES029930 · NIEHS · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · PI ANDERSEN, ERIK CHRISTIAN, BAUGH, LARRY RYAN · 2019 to 2023
$3.2M
Evolutionary Genetics of Animal DevelopmentR35GM141906 · NIGMS · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · PI Matthew Rockman · 2021 to 2026
$2.6M
Integration, optimization, and expansion of computational tools and resources for the Caenorhabditis Natural Diversity ResourceR50ES037948 · NIEHS · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI Michael Sauria · 2025 to 2026
$311k
Academia Sinica, Taiwan 103-CDA-L01Biodiversity Research CenterCentre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueCNRSHFSP RGP0001/2019Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicaleNational Science and Technology CouncilNIEHS NIH HHS R01ES029930NIEHS NIH HHS R50ES037948NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM141906NIHNIH HHSNSC 100-2311-B-001-015-MY3NSF 2224885Université Côte d'Azur
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Self-fertilization reduces genetic diversity compared to outcrossing and hypothetically decreases the ability to adapt to diverse environments. Among Caenorhabditis nematodes, self-fertilization evolved three times independently in Caenorhabditis elegans, Caenorhabditis briggsae, and the more recently discovered Caenorhabditis tropicalis. To survey C. tropicalis genetic relatedness, the influence of geography and niche on species-wide variation, and the signatures of selection, we collected 785 wild strains, sequenced their genomes, and identified 622 distinct genotypes (isotypes). In contrast to C. elegans and C. briggsae, C. tropicalis relatedness shows substantial association with geography and no transcontinental selective sweeps or broadly sampled isotypes. Populations from the Hawaiian Islands or Taiwan harbor more genetic variation than populations from the Caribbean or Americas, suggesting a Pacific species origin similar to other members of the Elegans subclade. Punctuated genomic regions of extreme genetic variation pervade the genome. These hyper-divergent regions (HDRs) comprise less than 6% of the reference genome despite harboring 73% of all variant sites on average and are enriched for genes likely involved in environmental adaptation. HDRs represent a shared genomic feature of self-fertilizing Caenorhabditis nematodes despite their independent evolutionary origins and suggest a mechanism to explain worldwide distributions despite low species-wide levels of genetic variation.

Indexed as

CaenorhabditisGenetic VariationGenome, HelminthSelf-FertilizationAnimalsGeographyPhylogenyCaenorhabditis tropicalishyper-divergent regionsnematodepopulation genomicspopulation structureself-fertilization

Identifiers

PMID42515817
PMCPMC13643787

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.