Advantages of Using C.elegans in Developmental Neural Biology
Introduction
The nematode was first introduced as a model organism for studying genetics in 1974 by Sidney Brenner. In his research paper “The Genetics of Caenorhabditis elegans” Brenner showed that there are many reasons why C. elegans can be used as a great model organism.
List of Advantages:
• C. elegans contain a relatively small number of cells.
• C. elegans show transparency, facilitating the study of cellular differentiation and other developmental processes in the intact organism.
• C. elegans have a simple anatomy.
• C. elegans can be grown on agar plates.
• C. elegans in early larva stages can be stored and saved for later.
• C. elegans are capable reproducing by self-fertilization as the predominant form of this nematode is hermaphroditic.
• C. elegans larva hatch after 15 hours at 20 degrees celsius and this means they have a relatively rapid rate of embryonic development.
• The complete lineage of every cell in the C. elegans has been determined, which allows a fate map of this organism to be accurately drawn at any stage of it's development, something that can't be found in any vertebrate.
• The patterns of cell lineage are largely invariant between individual C.elegans.
• C. elegans are one of the simplest organisms with a nervous system.
• The hermaphrodite C.elegans comprises just over 300 neurons whose pattern of connectivity or 'connectome' has been completely mapped out.
• The complete genome of C.elegans has been sequenced and has been shown to contain nearly 20,000 predicted genes.
• C. elegans can be mutated easily in the laboratory.
