WormClassroom is intended to serve as an education portal for the research model organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans; within the field it is also known as the "worm"). More about this site....

C. elegans cell lineage

The complete C. elegans cell lineage from top down. It is possible to know which cell is derived from which. The rapid early division are embryonic. (Image from WormAtlas; click the image to enlarge or right-click here and choose Save Link As... to download)

Transparent C. elegans

C. elegans transparent (Wood, W. B. (Ed.). (1988). The Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. N.Y.: Cold Spring Harbor Labortory Press.)

Antibody-tubulin (fixed)

A confocal microscopy image with fixed specimen. This is a C. elegans embryo with tubulin labeled in green.

C. elegans lineage hand drawing by John Sulston

This was recorded over a period of two hours. Sulston, E. J., (2002). C. elegans: The cell lineage and beyond. Nobel Lecture, (Dec 8, 2002), retrieved 12/15/2003, from http://nobelprize.org/medicine/laureates/2002/sulston-lecture.pdf.

Spermatozoa

Matured C. elegans sperm cells (spermatozoa) by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The knobby projections to the right of the cell are called a pseudopod, which the cell uses to crawl. See also TEM (Transmission Electron Microscopy) image of C. elegans sperm cells. Courtesy of Sam Ward Lab.

Nerve system labeled with GFP

C. elegans nerve system is labeled with GFP to show the neuronal interconnectivity. C. elegans has a simple and well-defined nerve system that includes 302 neurons. See also more information on C. elegans neuron research. Courtesy of the C. elegans Worm Art Show.

DAPI staining

A C. elegans with nuclei (DNA) labeled (DAPI stained). Each colored spot (light blue) represents a cell of the C. elegans. Courtesy of Sarah Crittenden, Kimble Lab and John White, LOCI.

C. elegans and C. briggsae

C. elegans and C. briggsae. These worms are closely related, and both used for research. Image from Wormbase.

Distal Tip Cell

Distal tip cell, the lower right irregular shaped cell, is a single somatic cell located to the tip of a C. elegans gonad. As a result, a hermaphrodite has total 2 distal tip cells, one on each end of the gonad. The cells adjacent to the distal tip cell in this image are germ cells. Please see the Kimble Lab website for more information. Distal Tip Cell by David Greenstein.

C. elegans germline

Isolated C. elegans gonad with the nuclei labeled. The distal tip cell would be located to the right most of the image. From the distal tip cell end to oocytes, there are germ cells in various states of maturation. Image courtesy of the Schedl Lab.

Male tail DIC

Male C. elegans tail imaged with DIC microscopy. Courtesy of the C. elegans Worm Art Show.

Early embryo development over time

Early embryonic development (metaphase in mitosis) over time, from upper left to lower right with tubulin (microtubules) labeled, showing the elongation of the mitotic spindle prior to the first cell division. Courtesy of Ahna Skop, Skop Lab.

Embryonic development DIC

DIC (Differential Interference Contrast/Normaski) images of a C. elegans' embryonic development from the first cell division to a 2-fold stage embryo. Courtesy of the C. elegans Worm Art Show.

C. elegans Nomarski Image

C. elegans DIC/Nomarski image by Maria Gallegos, Kimble Lab.

Scanning electron microscope image of C. elegans mouth

This is the mouth of a C. elegans captured with scanning electron microscopy. The magnification is 3,000X. Click to enlarge (~ 500K). Image by Jay Campbell, Laboratory for Optical and Computational Instrumentation.