DSSS lecture as part of the 2026 Pristionchus Meeting: Lessons from a galaxy of worms

Pristionchus pacificus is a species worthy of a life’s work. Ralf Sommer and colleagues have made great use of this “satellite model organism”, referencing the intensive studies of C. elegans around which studies of P. pacificus initially revolved. Yet there are many nematodes! I will discuss some of what we have learned from focal studies of other nematodes in what is truly a galaxy of worms. In particular, I will discuss studies from Caenorhabditis, Oscheius, Pristionchus, Heterorhabditis, Bursaphelenchus, and Steinernema with aspects of lineage invariance, programmed cell death, diapause, vulval development, and size control using genetics, genomics, proteomics and developmental biology. We know enough about C. elegans so we can predict other worms and learn about evolution or practical aspects of parasites, biocontrol or engineer worms. On the other hand, we know little enough about C. elegans that we will not understand it without clues from other nematode species. In current-day terms, we need to have more training examples to predict an organism’s properties from it genome sequence.