Ralf J. Sommer

The paper compares terminal and subtype selectors in two nematode species to study neuronal evolution over 200 million years, finding conservation and novelty in regulatory programs.

The paper shows that GTSF-1 binds RRF-3 in nematodes, a conserved interaction essential for 26G-RNA production and fertility.

The paper investigates ZGA timing across 61 animal species and finds that genome size to cytoplasm volume ratio predicts ZGA onset.

This paper identifies a multifunctional PKS-NRPS hybrid in nematodes that produces diverse signaling molecules controlling different developmental arrests.

The paper investigates predator-prey interactions between Pristionchus pacificus and Oscheius myriophilus in their natural nematode microhabitat, finding evidence of co-evolutionary adaptations.

The paper investigates natural variation in mouth-form plasticity in Pristionchus pacificus, linking it to genetic and molecular mechanisms involving nonsense-mediated decay and alternative start codon selection.

The paper curates gene models in Pristionchus pacificus, identifying and correcting over 7,500 gene annotations through manual curation and new transcriptome data.

The paper identifies a unique cysteine motif in DPY-6 that facilitates dimerization and is involved in cuticle formation in nematodes.

This paper introduces a stage-structured ecological graph theory to study how community topology influences species coexistence under ecological drift.

The paper investigates the adaptive benefits of transgenerational inheritance of a predatory mouth-form trait in nematodes, finding a fitness advantage in worms with this inherited trait.

This study identifies three new carboxylesterases in Pristionchus pacificus that function in the biosynthesis of specific modular pheromones, revealing their substrate-specific roles in pheromone complexity.

This study examines functional divergence of developmental plasticity genes between two nematode species using CRISPR mutations, revealing conservation, new functions, and quantitative effects in mouth-form regulation.

The paper compares the nervous systems of two nematode species to identify patterns of evolutionary change in their connectomes.

This study shows that vitamin B12 from diet induces transgenerational inheritance of predatory behavior in nematodes through increased vitellogenin provisioning.

This study uses beetle carcasses to model nematode succession and coexistence through agent-based modeling, showing coexistence across diverse scenarios.

The paper shows that EBAX-1/ZSWIM8 destabilizes miRNAs, leading to transgenerational memory of a predatory trait in nematodes.

This study shows that high nutritional conditions, particularly glucose, induce non-predatory mouth-form polyphenism in Pristionchus pacificus through fatty acid synthesis and beta-oxidation pathways.

The paper identifies two environmentally sensitive genes in a plasticity gene regulatory network and reveals metabolism as a shared pathway for mouth-form plasticity in Pristionchus.

The paper performs small RNA sequencing in Pristionchus pacificus to study miR-100 and the let-7-complex, finding novel miRNAs, developmental expression patterns, and alternative locus arrangements.

This study identifies roles for glutamate, GABA, and dense-core vesicle secretion in predatory feeding of P. pacificus using CRISPR/Cas9 mutants.

The paper shows that histone 4 lysine 5/12 acetylation regulates developmental plasticity and epigenetic memory in nematodes by controlling switch gene expression during a critical environmental sensitivity window.

This study shows that temperature influences mouth-form plasticity in Pristionchus pacificus through daf-11-dependent cGMP signaling involving DAF-11, DAF-25, and TAX-2.

The paper improves gene annotations in Pristionchus pacificus by combining comparative genomics and community curation, resulting in a higher quality gene set with improved ortholog completeness.

The paper identifies conserved nuclear receptors that regulate fast-evolving genes involved in morphological changes in nematodes.

The paper compares the neuroanatomy and connectivity of the chemosensory system in two nematode species, finding conservation in neuronal number and position but divergence in ciliary morphology and synaptic wiring.

The paper shows that adult-specific pheromones induce predatory morph in juvenile nematodes, revealing age-dependent cross-generational signaling in phenotypic plasticity.

This study shows that heat tolerance in Pristionchus pacificus evolved independently in different clades through polygenic adaptation and de novo mutations.