Caenorhabditis elegans: a model organism |
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*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 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wam-kw4xwZc to learn more about worm microinjection.
*Please visit http://www.wormbook.org/ to learn more about the biology, methods, and protocols of C elegans.
*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 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wam-kw4xwZc to learn more about worm microinjection.
*Please visit http://www.wormbook.org/ to learn more about the biology, methods, and protocols of C elegans.