CELL IDENTIFICATION in the worm

Part I - HEAD

Leon Avery's Pharynx Atlas

Head neurons:

Part II - BODY

Body neurons:

Part III - TAIL

Tail neurons

Tail non-neuronal cells

 

 

HELPFUL NOTES FOR CELL IDENTIFICATION BY NOMARSKI MICROSCOPY:

  • Neuronal nuclei are rather small, round and have stippled appearance.
  • Hypodermal and gut nuclei are large, have a "fried egg" appearance with large, prominent nucleoli.
    •  
  • Muscle nuclei are oblong (ovoid), intermediate in size between neuronal and hypodermal nuclei, and have a small, spherical nucleolus. Their nucleoplasm is granular in L1 but becomes smooth in L2 and remains so throughout the rest of the development.
  • Most cells are most easily seen in very young larvae; L1 stage is optimal for neuronal identifications. Pharyngeal nuclei are easier to see in the L2 stage.
  • Some cells are difficult to identify depending on their cell positions because of natural variability in their location:

    ANCILLARY METHODS FOR CELL IDENTIFICATION:

    FITC staining , DiI staining, DiO staining, DAPI staining -->> See ANATOMICAL METHODS

    REFERENCES:

    1- Hedgecock E. M., et al. (1985) Axonal guidance mutants of Caenorhabditis elegans identified by filling sensory neurons with fluorescein dyes.
    Dev. Biol. 111, 158-170.

    2-Bargmann C. I. and Avery L. (1995) Laser killing of cells in Caenorhabditis elegans in Methods in Cell Biology Vol.48,
    (ed: Epstein H. F. and Shakes D. C),. pp. 225-249. Academic Press, California

    3-Sulston J. and Hodgkin J. (1988) Methods in The Nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (ed: Wood W. B. and the community of C. elegans researchers),
    pp.587. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York

    All contents are copyright ©2002-2004 Wormatlas unless otherwise noted. See copyright and use policy.