C. elegans as a model organism

Kavya Leo Vakkayil20101080, BS-MS

IISER PUNE

104/20/23 Kavya Leo

Jonathan Hodgkin, University of Oxford

GROWTH OF A RESEARCH AREA

204/20/23 Kavya Leo

1. An introduction to C. elegans •Anatomy•Life cycle

2. A short history of C. elegans research

3. Advantages and applications of C. elegans

4. C. elegans in biology@IISER PUNE

304/20/23 Kavya Leo

• Small, free living(non-parasitic)soil nematode• Survives by feeding on bacteria

C. elegans

404/20/23 Kavya Leo

TWO SEXES:1.A self fertilizing hermaphrodite(XX)2.A male(X0)

5

C. elegans

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

ADULT ANATOMY

A. DIC image of an adult hermaphrodite, left lateral side. Scale bar 0.1 mm. B. Schematic drawing of anatomical structures

A. Schematic drawing of anatomical structures, left lateral side. B. DIC image of an adult male, left lateral side. Scale bar 0.1 mm

C. The unilobed distal gonad of the animal in B is shown as enlarged. D. The adult male tail, ventral view. (Arrow) Cloaca; (arrowhead) fan. Rays 1-9 are labeled with asterisks on the right side.

E. L3 tail, bottom, starting to bulge.

604/20/23 Kavya Leo

LIFE CYCLE

704/20/23 Kavya Leo

8

A SHORT HISTORY OF C. elegans RESEARCH

• Developed by Sydney Brenner(1963).

• Mutants published by Brenner(1974).

• Post embryonic cell lineages determined (Sulston and Horwitz,1976).

• Programmed cell death( Horwitz, 1982).

• Complete embryonic cell lineages determined( Deppe et al, Sulston 1983).

• Complete connectivity of nervous system was established(1986).

• RNAi and miRNA discovered in worms(1991-98)(Nobel Prize: Fire, Mello 2006).

• First use of GFP in animals(1994) (Nobel Prize: Chalfie, 2008).

• First animal whose whole genome was sequenced(97Mb,now 100.3Mb).

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

9

A SHORT HISTORY OF C. elegans RESEARCH

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

10

ADVANTAGES OF C. elegans AS A RESEARCH TOOL

• Simple• Easy to grow• Short life cycle• Powerful genetic studies can be conducted(Both self fertile and cross fertile)• Transparent• Small• Invariant cell lineage• Fully described anatomy and development• Completely sequenced genome• Tools like RNAi knockdowns can be performed• Stocks can be frozen and preserved• No expensive animal house costs, CHEAP TO MAINTAIN!• Present no biohazard• Large size of progeny

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

11

APPLICATIONS IN VARIOUS BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AREAS

1. Developmental biology and Cell biology•Transparency helps to view anatomy and development.•Individual cell lineages can be easily traced and directly inspected by DIC light microscopy.•Programmed cell death can also be visualized.

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

12

• Specific cells, cellular architecture can be directly examined using reporters like Green fluorescent protein(GFP)* .

*GFP= GREEN FLUORESCENT PROTEIN .Small protein derived from luminous jelly fish and canbe introduced as a transgenic tag to mark any protein in the animal.

Ilys genes(lysozyme) exhibit distinct patterns of pharyngealexpression.

Jonathan Hodgkin, University of Oxford04/20/23 Kavya Leo

13

2. Neurobiology•Act as a model for neuronal development and function.•No brain per say, but have sophisticated nervous system(302neurons/959 cells).•C. elegans responds to chemo attractants/repellants.•Laser beams(selective cutting of neurons) and electrophysiology studies can be conducted.•Connectome (the complete wiring diagram) have been established.

3. Aging •Short life span helps to conduct genetic screens to find longevity genes.

4. Human disease studies•~75% of human disease genes have potential C. elegans homologs.•~40-50% have a C. elegans ortholog.

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

14

Biochemical and genetic characterization of chromatin organizer protein Dve-1 and its role in C. elegans development and aging.

The present study seeks to elucidate the mechanism by which chromatin organization impacts organismal aging by studying C. elegans protein (Defective proventriculus) Dve-1.

•Identify genetic and physical interactors of C. elegans Dve1.•Generate C. elegans strains mutated in Dve1 and characterize the function of Dve1 during C. elegans development and aging.

C. elegans RESEARCH IN IISER PUNE

04/20/23 Kavya Leo

15

THANK YOU

04/20/23 Kavya Leo