Caenorhabditis elegans
A Model System: C. elegans Profile
- Small, cute, well behaved, ~1 mm long from head to tail.
- Free-living, non-parasitic soil nematode that can be safely used in the laboratory.
- Feeds on bacteria, such as HB101 and OP50.
- Brood size: A hermaphrodite can produce about 300-350 offspring under self-fertilization and more if it mates with males.
- Can be easily and cheaply cultivated in large numbers on agar plates containing bacteria lawn, ~10,000 worms/6cm petri dish.
- Rapid life cycle, 3 days at 20 degree Celsius from eggs -> L1-L4 -> adults -> eggs.
- Life span: 2-3 weeks.
- Sequenced genome, ~19,000 genes.
- Complete cell lineages with constant cell position and cell number, so it is possible to know which cell is derived from which.
- Starved worms can stay as dauers, a developmentally arrested stage, for months, and recover quickly upon re-feeding.
- Can be frozen in freezing solution at -80 degree Celsius or LN2 for long-term storage.
- Powerful forward genetic (EMS mutagenesis), reverse genetic (RNAi) and molecular tools.
- Transparent cuticle makes it very easy to do live imaging.
- Easy to make transgenic animals by injecting DNA or dsRNA into syncytial gonads. Please visit http://www.mcb.arizona.edu/wardlab/injectionvid.html to learn more about worm microinjection.
- Please visit http://www.wormbook.org/ to learn more about the biology, methods, and protocols of C. elegans.
