Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living transparent nematode about 1 mm in length that lives in temperate soil environments. It is the type species of its genus. The name is a blend of the Greek caeno- (recent), rhabditis (rod-like) and Latin elegans (elegant). In 1900, Maupas initially named it Rhabditides elegans. Osche placed it in the subgenus Caenorhabditis in 1952, and in 1955, Dougherty raised Caenorhabditis to the status of genus.
Howard Robert Horvitz is an American biologist best known for his research on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, for which he was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, together with Sydney Brenner and John E. Sulston, whose "seminal discoveries concerning the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death" were "important for medical research and have shed new light on the pathogenesis of many diseases".
Sir John Edward Sulston was a British biologist and academic who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on the cell lineage and genome of the worm Caenorhabditis elegans in 2002 with his colleagues Sydney Brenner and Robert Horvitz. He was a leader in human genome research and Chair of the Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation at the University of Manchester. Sulston was in favour of science in the public interest, such as free public access of scientific information and against the patenting of genes and the privatisation of genetic technologies.
Caenorhabditis briggsae is a small nematode, closely related to Caenorhabditis elegans. The differences between the two species are subtle. The male tail in C. briggsae has a slightly different morphology from C. elegans. Other differences include changes in vulval precursor competence and the placement of the excretory duct opening. C. briggsae is frequently used to study the differences between it and the more intimately understood C. elegans, especially at the DNA and protein sequence level. Several mutant strains of C. briggsae have also been isolated that facilitate genetic analysis of this organism. C. briggsae, like C. elegans, is a hermaphrodite. The genome sequence for C. briggsae was determined in 2003.
Caenorhabditis is a genus of nematodes which live in bacteria-rich environments like compost piles, decaying dead animals and rotting fruit. The name comes from Greek: caeno- ; rhabditis = rod-like. In 1900, Maupas initially named the species Rhabditis elegans, Osche placed it in the subgenus Caenorhabditis in 1952, and in 1955, Dougherty raised Caenorhabditis to the status of genus.
Caenorhabditis brenneri is a small nematode, closely related to the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. Its genome is being sequenced by Washington University in St. Louis Genome Sequencing Center. This species has previously been referred to as C. sp 4 and Caenorhabditis sp. CB5161, but was recently formally described and given its scientific name. This name is in honor of Sydney Brenner, recognizing his pioneering role in starting active research in the field of C. elegans biology and development.
Most animal testing involves invertebrates, especially Drosophila melanogaster, a fruit fly, and Caenorhabditis elegans, a nematode. These animals offer scientists many advantages over vertebrates, including their short life cycle, simple anatomy and the ease with which large numbers of individuals may be studied. Invertebrates are often cost-effective, as thousands of flies or nematodes can be housed in a single room.
Caenorhabditis remanei is a species of nematode found in North America and Europe, and likely lives throughout the temperate world. Several strains have been developed in the laboratory.
Caenorhabditis japonica is a species of nematodes in the genus Caenorhabditis. Its genome was sequenced by the Genome Center at Washington University. This gonochoristic species is found in the 'Japonica' group, the sister clade to the 'Elegans' group, in the 'Elegans' supergroup.
WormBase is an online biological database about the biology and genome of the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and contains information about other related nematodes. WormBase is used by the C. elegans research community both as an information resource and as a place to publish and distribute their results. The database is regularly updated with new versions being released every two months. WormBase is one of the organizations participating in the Generic Model Organism Database (GMOD) project.
Pristionchus pacificus is a species of free-living nematodes (roundworms) in the family Diplogastridae. The species has been established as a satellite model organism to Caenorhabditis elegans, with which it shared a common ancestor 200-300 million years ago. The genome of P. pacificus has been fully sequenced, which in combination with other tools for genetic analysis make this species a tractable model in the laboratory, especially for studies of developmental biology.
Caenorhabditis elegans- microbe interactions are defined as any interaction that encompasses the association with microbes that temporarily or permanently live in or on the nematode C. elegans. The microbes can engage in a commensal, mutualistic or pathogenic interaction with the host. These include bacterial, viral, unicellular eukaryotic, and fungal interactions. In nature C. elegans harbours a variety of different microbes. In contrast, C. elegans strains that are cultivated in laboratories for research purposes have lost the natural associated microbial communities and are commonly maintained on a single bacterial strain, Escherichia coli OP50. However, E. coli OP50 does not allow for reverse genetic screens because RNAi libraries have only been generated in strain HT115. This limits the ability to study bacterial effects on host phenotypes. The host microbe interactions of C. elegans are closely studied because of their orthologs in humans. Therefore, the better we understand the host interactions of C. elegans the better we can understand the host interactions within the human body.
Caenorhabditis drosophilae is a species of nematodes. It was recovered, along with Rhabditis sonorae, from saguaro cactus rot in Arizona. The species was found on the fly Drosophila nigrospiracula.
Caenorhabditis plicata is a species of nematodes in the genus Caenorhabditis. It was described on carrion in Germany and is phoretic on carrion visiting beetles.
Caenorhabditis monodelphis is a species of nematodes in the genus Caenorhabditis. It was first collected by J. Raschka in Berlin, Germany in 2001. A second isolate was collected from Norway. It is a freeliving species found in galleries inside of the fungus Ganoderma applanatum (Polyporaceae) which grew on the stump of a tree a few centimeters above ground. It is phoretic on beetles of the species Cis castaneus.
Caenorhabditis nigoni is a male-female species in the Elegans group of the genus Caenorhabditis, first identified and described as "Caenorhabditis species 9" or "C. sp. 9" before being renamed as "C. nigoni". The specific epithet is a tribute to Victor Nigon who first studied Caenorhabditis elegans in the laboratory with Ellsworth Dougherty in the 1940s. Isolates come from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kerala, India.
Caenorhabditis castelli is a species of nematodes, in the same genus as the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. The type isolate was collected in the Nouragues Nature Reserve, French Guiana.
Caenorhabditis sp. 8 is an unnamed species of nematodes, in the same genus as the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans. It was collected from rotting tomatoes in New Jersey, USA, in July 2007.
Caenorhabditis sinica, prior to 2014 described as sp. 5, is a species of nematodes in the genus Caenorhabditis. It is found in East Asia. It is found frequently in China.
Paul W. Sternberg is an American biologist. He does research for WormBase on C. elegans, a model organism.
