Caenorhabditis elegans

From WikiMD.org
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans (pronunciation: /ˌsiːnoʊræbˈdaɪtɪs ˈɛləɡænz/) is a free-living, transparent nematode, about 1 mm in length, that lives in temperate soil environments.

Etymology

The name "Caenorhabditis" derives from the Greek words "kaeno" (recent), "rhabditis" (rod-like) and "elegans" which means elegant.

Description

The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has a simple anatomy, with about 1,000 cells, and a short lifecycle of 2-3 weeks. It is used extensively as a model organism in genetics and developmental biology.

Genetics

The Caenorhabditis elegans genome was the first multicellular organism's genome to be sequenced entirely. The genome contains approximately 20,000 protein-coding genes. The study of Caenorhabditis elegans has led to new insights in several fields, including apoptosis, or programmed cell death, and RNA interference (RNAi).

Developmental Biology

In developmental biology, Caenorhabditis elegans is a valuable model because it is transparent and its entire cell lineage has been traced. This allows researchers to study the development of an organism from a single cell to an adult.

Related Terms

External links

Esculaap.svg

This WikiMD dictionary article is a stub. You can help make it a full article.


Languages: - East Asian 中文, 日本, 한국어, South Asian हिन्दी, Urdu, বাংলা, తెలుగు, தமிழ், ಕನ್ನಡ,
Southeast Asian Indonesian, Vietnamese, Thai, မြန်မာဘာသာ, European español, Deutsch, français, русский, português do Brasil, Italian, polski