About C. Elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans is a nematode usually found in temperate soil. It is transparent and approximately 1 mm in length. C. elegans has been used as a model organism since 1974. Its genomic sequencing was completed in 2002; C. elegans is the first multicellular organism to have its genome completely sequenced. The C. elegans genome is approximately 100 million base pairs in length and contains around 20,100 genes.^a

Why C. Elegans?

• C. elegans is eukaryotic.
• C. elegans is a multicellular organism, with different tissues that can be modified separately.

Links & Additional Resources

• [http://wormbook.org/ WormBook] is a great functional overview of worm physiology, with an emphasis on development.
• [http://wormatlas.org/ WormAtlas] is a great anatomical overview.
• [http://www.wormbook.org/wbg/ The Worm Breeder's Gazette] is a informal, non-refereed, biannual newsletter dedicated to C. elegans and other nematodes.
• [http://gfpworm.org/ GFPWorm] has visual information on C. elegans expression patterns.

Footnotes and Citations

a: [http://www.wormbase.org/wiki/index.php/WS205 WS205 Release Letter]. WormBase Wiki. Accessed on 2010-06-22.