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That'd be backticks. For example:

`ls`;

Don't accidentally use apostrophes/single-quotes for that, or you'll just ned up with an unparsed string instead of an executed shell command. Of course, while backticks are great in brief admin scripts, they're pretty nonportable since you have to have the same shell and/or programs available on every system where you choose to run your Perl program, so know your userbase when deciding whether to use backticks.