[
Trends Genet,
1999]
The genome sequence of the free-living nematode Caenorhabiditis elegans is nearly complete, with resolution of the final difficult regions expected over the next few months. This will represent the first genome of a multicellular organism to be sequenced to completion. The genome is approximately 97 Mb in total, and encodes more than 19 099 proteins, considerably more than expected before sequencing began. The sequencing project - a collaboration between the Genome Sequencing Center in St Louis and the Sanger Centre in Hinxton - has lasted eight years, with the majority of the sequence generated in the past four years. Analysis of the genome sequence is just beginning and represents an effort that will undoubtedly last more than another decade. However, some interesting findings are already apparent, indicating that the scope of the project, the approach taken, and the usefulness of having the genetic blueprint for this small organism have been well worth the effort.
[
Dis Model Mech,
2024]
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun "for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation". The award celebrates the discovery of small regulatory miRNAs and their mRNA targets, published over three decades ago. The groundwork for this discovery was laid during the early 1980s, when Ambros began studying mutations that caused heterochronic defects in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans - or shifts in the temporal identities of cells. A major impetus to study the heterochronic genes of C. elegans was to gain mechanistic understanding of how developmental stages are specified - a fascinating question in basic and evolutionary biology. Asking fundamental biological questions with no immediate application to human health ultimately led to the discovery of a new type of RNA, which had broad implications for understanding and treating human disease.
[
Genetics,
2015]
A little over 50 years ago, Sydney Brenner had the foresight to develop the nematode (round worm) Caenorhabditis elegans as a genetic model for understanding questions of developmental biology and neurobiology. Over time, research on C. elegans has expanded to explore a wealth of diverse areas in modern biology including studies of the basic functions and interactions of eukaryotic cells, host-parasite interactions, and evolution. C. elegans has also become an important organism in which to study processes that go awry in human diseases. This primer introduces the organism and the many features that make it an outstanding experimental system, including its small size, rapid life cycle, transparency, and well-annotated genome. We survey the basic anatomical features, common technical approaches, and important discoveries in C. elegans research. Key to studying C. elegans has been the ability to address biological problems genetically, using both forward and reverse genetics, both at the level of the entire organism and at the level of the single, identified cell. These possibilities make C. elegans useful not only in research laboratories, but also in the classroom where it can be used to excite students who actually can see what is happening inside live cells and tissues.