Chuang Lab

Caenorhabditis elegans

A Model System: C. elegans Profile

• Small, cute, well behaved, ~1 mm long from head to tail.
• Free-living, nonparasitic 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 degrees 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 degrees 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.