A new wild strain of Caenorhabditis elegans associated with Allograpta exotica (Syrphidae) in Argentina: an update of its ecological niche and worldwide distribution

SALAS A; RUSCONI JM; ROCCA M; DIAZ LUCAS MF; BALCAZAR DARIO; ACHINELLY MF

ANAIS DA ACADEMIA BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS.

ACAD BRASILEIRA DE CIENCIAS

Lugar: Rio de Janeiro; Año: 2022

0001-3765

Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living nematode, belonging to thebacterivorous trophic group. Although it was cited in several countries, in differenttypes of ecosystems and in associations with other organisms, the wild habitats of thisnematode have not yet been precisely defined. In Argentina, C. elegans was recentlyisolated from the hoverfly Allograpta exotica, a voracious predator with potentialbiological control against aphids in horticultural crops. In this frame, the objectives ofthis study were (i) to characterize it molecularly and morphologically (ii) to report a wildstrain of C. elegans for the fi rst time from Argentina, (iii) to present a new ecologicalniche by associating it with A. exotica and (iv) to evaluate the pathogenicity against theseinsects. The results of the morphological and molecular analyses made it possible todetermine that the isolated nematode was C. elegans, thus establishing the ARGLP1900wild strain as the fi rst record of this nematode for Argentina. A new association wasdescribed, since there are no records of interaction between C. elegans and A. exotica,providing information on a new ecological niche. The new wild strain found in this work,could be appropriate for comparative genomic studies with other C. elegans strains.