Caenorhabditis elegans

About Caenorhabditis elegans: 

• It is a nematode worm which is a small, relatively simple, and precisely structured organism.
• C. elegans grows within 3-5 days from a fertilised egg to a millimetre-long adult, and it has informed profound insights into thae human body, as well as biology. 
• It is widely used in research to understand neuronal and molecular biology.
• It was the first multicellular organism to have its full genome sequenced and neural wiring mapped. 
• It has two sexes—a hermaphrodite and a male.
  • The hermaphrodite can be viewed most simply as a female that produces a limited number of sperm: she can reproduce either by self-fertilization, using her own sperm, or by cross-fertilization after transfer of male sperm by mating.
  • Self-fertilization allows a single heterozygous worm to produce homozygous progeny.

What are Nematodes?

• These are any worm of the phylum Nematoda.
• These are among the most abundant animals on Earth.
• They occur as parasites in animals and plants or as free-living forms in soil, fresh water, marine environments, and even such unusual places as vinegar, beer malts, and water-filled cracks deep within Earth’s crust.
• Features
  • Nematodes are bilaterally symmetrical, elongate, and usually tapered at both ends.
  • Some species possess a pseudocoel, a fluid-filled body cavity between the digestive tract and the body wall.

Q1: What is Molecular Biology?

It is the field of biology that studies the composition, structure and interactions of cellular molecules – such as nucleic acids and proteins – that carry out the biological processes essential for the cell's functions and maintenance.

News: How the microscopic worm C. elegans won 4 Nobel Prizes