3.2: C. elegans
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Introduction
The nematode C. elegans has proven to be a powerful model organism in developmental biology.
Several major contributions have resulted in Nobel Prizes over the past two decades:
2002: Sydney Brenner, H. Robert Horvitz and John E. Sulston "for their discoveries concerning genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'." (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2002/summary/)
2006: Andrew Z. Fire and Craig C. Mello "for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA." (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2006/summary/)
2008: Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien "for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP." (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/2008/summary/)
Embryonic Development
The early divisions of the C. elegans embryo are invariant, meaning that each embryo undergoes the same pattern of cell divisions. These divisions are initially driven by the proteins and mRNAs that are supplied to the egg during oocyte development.
Germline Development
The adult germ line consists of an "assembly-line-like" structure of cells in mitosis, meiosis, or differentiating into gametes. A summary of the structure and organization ican be found here at Worm Atlas (https://www.wormatlas.org/hermaphrodite/germ%20line/Germframeset.html).