Worm.docx

C.elegans short generation time Small life span Easily cultivated. Small Few cells Amenable to genetic analysis Has 3 germ layers Transparency- easy to tag Can be frozen. Conserved genes and cellular processes. Life cycle Eggs gastrula development stageeggs develop outside uterusadult hatching L1, L...

C.elegans short generation time Small life span Easily cultivated. Small Few cells Amenable to genetic analysis Has 3 germ layers Transparency- easy to tag Can be frozen. Conserved genes and cellular processes. Life cycle Eggs gastrula development stageeggs develop outside uterusadult hatching L1, L2, L3 and L4 young adult. Anatomy 5 autosomes and one sex chromosome. XX= hermaphrodites XO= males arises spontaneously via nondisjunction of X chromosome during meiosis. They can go to a stage called daver if conditions are extreme such as high temp etc for up to 4 months and then resume development when conditions are favourable. They have body systems such as Epidermal Digestive Reproductive Nervous Muscular Excretory Every worm has the exact same number of somatic cells that arises by invariant cell linage. The cell death is also programmed into lineage. Can be used to study: Developmental biology Cell biology Neurobiology Ways to study gene function The genes are disrupted, and the phenotype is analysed. Forward genetics- gene is identified by studying mutant phenotype. The gene must be cloned for analysis. Reverse genetics- studying the phenotype using the information about the gene.