About Caenorhabditis elegans:
- It is a nematode worm which is a small, relatively simple, and precisely structured organism. It grows within 3-5 days from a fertilised egg to a millimetre-long adult, and it has informed profound insights into the 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 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:
- These 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.
- They have been reported from every continent on earth and occur in deserts, swamps, the oceans, the tropics and Antarctica.
- Nematode parasites of animals occur in almost all organs of the body, but the most common sites are in the alimentary, circulatory and respiratory systems.
