One worm, two mouths: Devious evolutionary path between genetics and environment

Depending on the environment in which the worm grows, the larva of the roundworm Pristionchus pacificus develops into either a wide-mouthed predator or a narrow-mouthed bacteria eater. A team of researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Tübingen, Germany, headed by Ralf J. Sommer have now discovered a developmental biological switch that determines the worm's mouth form. According to this, the scientists are now able to explain how organisms adapt to different surrounding conditions.

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