A namesake polyculture method grows the L and S types of an organism in this phylum and is used to feed laboratory stocks of newly hatched zebrafish. Three strains of an organism in this phylum abbreviated MA, MM, and CR were used in a 2022 study that challenged an earlier finding that organisms in this phylum have a long-term preference for asexual reproduction, which is called the Meselson effect. Organisms in this phylum uniquely do not undergo cellular growth or repair until the end of embryonic development. Chitinous (*) trophi are contained in the pharyngeal mastax of organisms in this phylum. This phylum contains an exclusively female class that can reproduce by apomixis and survive extreme desiccation called Bdelloidea (“dell-OID-ee-uh”). For 10 points, name this phylum discovered by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek whose members are known as wheel animals. ■END■
ANSWER: rotifers [or Rotifera; accept bdelloid rotifers; accept the rotifer polyculture method] (Both the 2022 study and the earlier study outlining the Meselson effect are from Matthew Meselson’s lab.)
<RH, Biology>
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