Synthesis

Nematology , 2000, Vol. 2(1), 123 Symposium Synthesis August C OOMANS University Gent, Department of Biology, Ledeganckstraat 35, 9000 Gent, Belgium What in the programme at Ž rst glance seemed to be an assemblage of quite different topics, some even without any clear relation to biodiversity or evolution,soon turned out to be a very interesting meeting. Due to the diversity of the topics and the quality of the presentations, every participant could Ž nd something within his or her sphere of interest and the specialists could learn about each other’s views and approaches. Presentations of 25 minutes were sufŽ cient to explain the subject and the chairmen were kind enough to allow for some extension after the 5 minutes discussion time after each presentation. IdentiŽ cation of nematodes is the Ž rst step to taxonomy, but also a necessity for all studies in other Ž elds. With the declining number of taxonomists on the one hand and the increasing need to identify nematodes for studies on biodiversity, ecology, etc . . ., we have to make choices of the groups to study and we have to look for methods that can be used also by non-specialists for diagnostic purposes. Computer assisted identiŽ cation systems may be an outcome as well as an increased use of molecular meth- ods, the latter preferably combined with the morphologi- cal approach. ClassiŽ cation should re ect as closely as possible phy- logeny, and phylogenetic relationships should be inferred from a combination of various types of characters: mor- phological, ontogenetic, molecular ecological, life cycle, different patterns in parasitism, etc . . . It is clear that ontogenetic differences in cell speciŽ ca- tion as well as in organ formation may add valuable infor- mation in a comparative phylogenetic framework. Molec- ular techniques have vastly increased the interest for and the possibilities to do research on phylogeny. The results should, nevertheless, be combined with those obtained from the study of other characters to come to a more com- prehensive view of evolution. c ® Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2000 123