Molecular Phylogenetics of Nematode Diversity and Taxa
Summary
Molecular phylogenetics has transformed our understanding of nematode evolution and taxonomy, revealing the relationships among free-living, marine, soil-dwelling and parasitic lineages across the phylum. By integrating multi-locus data sets—principally small subunit (18S) and large subunit (28S) ribosomal RNA genes, mitochondrial markers such as cytochrome c oxidase I, and genome-scale transcriptomes—researchers have begun to resolve deep branching orders among early-diverging clades (Dorylaimia and Enoplia) and to delineate major suborders (e.g. Rhabditina, Spirurina, Tylenchina). High-throughput sequencing has expanded taxon sampling beyond model and economically important parasites to include understudied free-living and marine taxa, improving support for higher-level nodes and clarifying instances of morphological convergence and cryptic speciation. These advances underpin a revised framework for nematode classification, inform studies of life-history evolution, host-parasite coevolution and biogeography, and enable application to biodiversity assessment, biosecurity and agricultural management. Ongoing challenges include the integration of genomic and morphological evidence, the standardisation of molecular operational taxonomic units, and the full resolution of basal splits in the nematode tree of life.
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Molecular Phylogenetics of Nematode Diversity and Taxa publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in molecular phylogenetics of nematode diversity and taxa across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Phylogenomics: The analysis of genome-scale sequence data to infer evolutionary relationships among taxa.
Transcriptome: The complete set of messenger RNA transcripts generated by an organism, used for gene-based phylogenetic inference.
Ribosomal RNA (rRNA): Conserved RNA component of ribosomes, with 18S and 28S regions widely employed as molecular markers in phylogenetics.
Cytochrome c oxidase I (COI): A mitochondrial protein‐coding gene commonly used for species identification and barcoding in animal taxa.
Molecular operational taxonomic unit (MOTU): A cluster of DNA sequences treated as a provisional taxonomic entity in biodiversity and barcoding studies.
References
- Improved phylogenomic sampling of free-living nematodes enhances resolution of higher-level nematode phylogeny. BMC Ecology and Evolution (2019).
- Phylogenomic Analysis of the Phylum Nematoda: Conflicts and Congruences With Morphology, 18S rRNA, and Mitogenomes. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (2022).
- Description of a new species of Aplectana (Nematoda: Ascaridomorpha: Cosmocercidae) using an integrative approach and preliminary phylogenetic study of Cosmocercidae and related taxa. Parasites & Vectors (2021).
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