preview

C. Elegans Essay

Decent Essays
Open Document

Caenorhabditis elegans, abbreviated C. elegans, is a roundworm that inhabits the soil. It has played a fundamental role in Biological Laboratories since the early 1900’s as it serves as a model organism. C. elegans has the ability to distinguish between harmful pathogenic bacteria and those bacteria that prove to be nutritious through its ability to differentiate chemicals in its environment. Most of the current research on C. elegans has been conducted within laboratory constraints. We are seeking to gain a deeper understanding of the c. elegans worms within their environment. We choose to study the interactions of the C. elegans worms with bacilius subtilis, abbreviated B. subtilis, and bactillus cereus, abbreviated b. cereus for the remainder of this …show more content…

elegans live within the soil and thus are not exposed to light on a regular basis. Photoreceptors offer a unique way of “seeing” and interacting with the environment. Photoreceptors contain chemicals from which light elicits a change and thus help guide the movement and behavior of worms and other animals. Phototaxis is a type of locomotive movement that allows organisms to respond to changing light around them. Phototaxis can be both negative and positive in that a positive phototaxis is movement toward the light and that negative phototaxis is movement that is away from a light source (Department of Plant Biology). C. elegans live in the soil, thus in darkness, and do not have eyes and are therefore believed to not have photoreceptors(Wang, 2010). However, it was found that “light stimuli elicited negative phototaxis in C. elegans and that this behavior is important for survival.” (Ward, 2008). Photoreceptors are present within the c. elegans organism. As, such, “ Negative phototaxis behavior in C. elegans could function to retain worms in soil, or protect them from harmful effects of UV light” (Wang, 2010). Photoreceptors are critical to the c. elegans and their interactions within their

Get Access