The free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a useful model organism for genetic analysis. The 1 mm long C. elegans can survive by consuming bacteria as a food source. The typical life cycle of C. elegans is four days from egg to adult; however, stressful environments induce an alternative hibernation-like state called dauer. In the dauer stage, C. elegans can live without a food source for months. Similarly, the hardy early larvae can survive being frozen indefinitely and produce viable adults.
Typically, 99.9% of a population of C. elegans are hermaphrodites capable of self-fertilization, and the remainder are males. A single hermaphrodite can produce hundreds of progeny. C. elegans possess a clear body with largely invariant development, wherein each cell has been mapped to define the cell divisions and migrations that occur in the same pattern in each animal. The nematodes also possess a simple nervous system and have basic animal behaviors.
Select the characteristics that describe why C. elegans is a good model organism in a laboratory setting.
The primarily hermaphroditic nature means recessive mutations can be readily isolated.
The life cycle is useful in understanding the development of parasitic nematodes.
The high survivability means the organism can be easily maintained.
The transparent body and developmental map facilitates genetic cell-fate analysis.
The well-defined cell-fate map is comparable to most mammals.