Ecological Genomics of Nematode Community Interactions: Model and Non-model Approaches

The effects of human-induced environmental change are evident at multiple levels of biological organization. To date, most environmental change studies have focused on effects at the ecosystem, community and organismal levels. However, the ultimate controls of biological responses are located in the genome. Thus, genetic and genomic studies of organismal responses to environmental changes are necessary. Recent advances in genome analysis now make such analyses possible. In this chapter we describe a research approach and program that can begin to span this gap by using genome-enabled approaches to characterize organismal changes and then employing a genetically tractable model organism to identify genes involved in the response to environmental perturbations.