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Published on: July 11, 2025
Chromosome-scale selective sweeps shape Caenorhabditis elegans genomic diversity
Erik C Andersen1, Justin P Gerke, Joshua A Shapiro
1Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Princeton University, New Jersey, USA.
Nature Genetics
|January 31, 2012
Summary
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, vital for biological research, shows surprisingly low genetic diversity globally. Recent, widespread genetic sweeps, possibly human-driven, have dramatically reshaped its population structure.
Area of Science:
- Genomics
- Evolutionary Biology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Caenorhabditis elegans is a key model organism in biological research.
- Most studies use a single C. elegans strain, limiting understanding of its population genetics and evolution.
- Global genetic variation in C. elegans remains largely uncharacterized.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the population genomic structure of Caenorhabditis elegans.
- To identify genetic variation across a worldwide collection of wild C. elegans strains.
- To understand the evolutionary history and drivers of genetic diversity in this species.
Main Methods:
- High-throughput selective sequencing of 200 wild C. elegans strains.
- Identification and analysis of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs).
- Population genetic modeling to infer historical demographic events.
Main Results:
- Discovery of 41,188 SNPs across the C. elegans genome.
- Identification of large, shared haplotypes spanning megabases on four out of six chromosomes.
- Population genetic modeling indicated chromosome-scale selective sweeps have reduced global genetic variation.
- Evidence suggests at least one major sweep occurred within the last few hundred years.
Conclusions:
- C. elegans exhibits a genome-wide reduction in genetic variation due to recent, large-scale selective sweeps.
- Human activity is hypothesized as a potential driver for these recent evolutionary events.
- The global population structure of C. elegans has been significantly altered in the recent evolutionary past.
