DSSS as Part of the 4th International Pristionchus Meeting

A major goal of evolutionary developmental biology is to connect changes in phenotype with the genetic modifications that cause them. However, because development is not static even in the face of phenotypic stasis, this goal is most reachable when closely related taxa are compared. Shifts from strict outcrossing to self-fertility are typically recent, and are of obvious organismal significance. In this presentation, Prof. Haag will give an overview of his more than 25 years of research on the convergent evolution of selfing in Caenorhabditis nematodes. One major topic is the search for the molecular mechanisms that enable sperm production in an otherwise female body. Another is the discovery of genomic and reproductive consequences that evolved in response to self-fertility. Both areas have benefitted from the steady improvement in methods for gene perturbation that can be applied to most or all species. Finally, Prof. Haag will share the results of initial studies on the only self-fertile vertebrate, the mangrove killifish.