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rdf:type |
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lifeskim:mentions |
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pubmed:issue |
7207
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pubmed:dateCreated |
2008-8-22
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pubmed:abstractText |
Heritable variation is the raw material for evolutionary change, and understanding its genetic basis is one of the central problems in modern biology. We investigated the genetic basis of a classic phenotypic dimorphism in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Males from many natural isolates deposit a copulatory plug after mating, whereas males from other natural isolates?including the standard wild-type strain (N2 Bristol) that is used in most research laboratories?do not deposit plugs. The copulatory plug is a gelatinous mass that covers the hermaphrodite vulva, and its deposition decreases the mating success of subsequent males. We show that the plugging polymorphism results from the insertion of a retrotransposon into an exon of a novel mucin-like gene, plg-1, whose product is a major structural component of the copulatory plug. The gene is expressed in a subset of secretory cells of the male somatic gonad, and its loss has no evident effects beyond the loss of male mate-guarding. Although C. elegans descends from an obligate-outcrossing, male?female ancestor, it occurs primarily as self-fertilizing hermaphrodites. The reduced selection on male?male competition associated with the origin of hermaphroditism may have permitted the global spread of a loss-of-function mutation with restricted pleiotropy.
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pubmed:grant |
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pubmed:commentsCorrections |
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-10517638,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-10542193,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-10908637,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-11005278,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-11731497,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-11901115,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-11901116,
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http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-12231628,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-12654723,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-12828945,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-15044386,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-15184656,
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http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-15753033,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-16005289,
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http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-17409084,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-5637714,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-7110332,
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-7530364,
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http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/18633349-9136008
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pubmed:language |
eng
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pubmed:journal |
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pubmed:citationSubset |
IM
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pubmed:chemical |
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pubmed:status |
MEDLINE
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pubmed:month |
Aug
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pubmed:issn |
1476-4687
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pubmed:author |
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pubmed:issnType |
Electronic
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pubmed:day |
21
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pubmed:volume |
454
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pubmed:owner |
NLM
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pubmed:authorsComplete |
Y
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pubmed:pagination |
1019-22
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pubmed:dateRevised |
2011-9-26
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pubmed:meshHeading |
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Alleles,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Amino Acid Sequence,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Animals,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Caenorhabditis elegans,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Caenorhabditis elegans Proteins,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Copulation,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Disorders of Sex Development,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Gene Expression Regulation,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Male,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Mucins,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Polymorphism, Genetic,
pubmed-meshheading:18633349-Retroelements
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pubmed:year |
2008
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pubmed:articleTitle |
Molecular basis of the copulatory plug polymorphism in Caenorhabditis elegans.
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pubmed:affiliation |
Department of Biology, Bowdoin College, 6500 College Station, Brunswick, Maine 04011, USA. mpalopol@bowdoin.edu
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pubmed:publicationType |
Journal Article,
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.,
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't,
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
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