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Developmental Biology Boot Camp

Embryogenesis

C. elegans embryogenesis. Pharynx (green), gonad (purple), embryos (blue). Adapted from: WormAtlas.
C. elegans embryogenesis. Pharynx (green), gonad (purple), embryos (blue). Adapted from: Altun and Hall, 2009.

The gestation period for C. elegans is 11.5 hours (2.5 hrs in utero development and 9 hrs in ex utero development), which is the period from fertilization to hatching in C. elegans. Development continues post-hatching, where in the first through fourth larval stages (L1-L4) the nervous and reproductive systems and digestive tract begin and complete development. L1-L4 development takes 38hrs, after which the worm is considered a young adult (Cho et al., 2012). C. elegans development is also temperature dependent: “C. elegans grows 2.1 times faster at 25°C than at 16°C” (Eisenmann, 2005; Maniatis et al., 1982). This is different than in human development, where the fetus develops in utero for the duration of the 40 week gestation period. Human and C. elegans development also differs in that most systems in the human body have begun to develop within the first trimester (first 12 weeks) of gestation.