C. elegans Movies

A visual introduction to the model roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans.

This page has links to timelapse films made by C. elegans researchers worldwide.

For more information about the worms, see the C. elegans web page and Wormbase.

The movies can be viewed with the free version of Quicktime.

Contents:

Embryos

RNAi Screens

Larvae and Adults

Techniques

4D Movies

Embryos

C. elegans develops from a single cell, the fertilized egg, to a 558-celled worm in about 14 hours. The worm that crawls out of its eggshell has a functioning feeding apparatus, gut, nervous system and muscles. These videos show some of the events that occur along the way.
Normal Development from us	Cytoplasmic Flow from us
First Cell Cycle from Tony Hyman's lab	Myosin, PARs, Microtubules from the Center for Cell Dynamics
P granules, PAR-2 from Cheeks et al 2004	P granules from Brangwynne et al 2009
PARs and par mutants from Ken Kemphues' lab	PARs, MEXs, PIE-1, Microtubules from Cuenca et al 2003
Actin Comets from Velarde et al 2007	Blebs from Roh-Johnson and Goldstein 2009
Caveolin from Sato et al 2006	Timing Spindle Displacement from McCarthy Campbell et al 2009
Chromosomes, Microtubules from Desai et al 2003	Chromosomes, Microtubules from Oegema et al 2001
Histones, Microtubules, gamma-Tubulin from Hannak et al 2001	Histones, Microtubules, gamma-Tubulin from Hannak et al 2002
Microtubule Tips from Labbé et al 2003	Cytokinesis and Gastrulation from Severson et al 2002
Nuclear Envelope, Microtubules, Histone from Ian Mattaj's lab	PIE-1 from Reese et al 2000
Spindles Skewing from Bergman et al 2003	Membranes, Cultured Cells, Microtubules from Skop et al 2001
POP-1 from Joel Rothman's lab	Gastrulation from us
Gastrulation from Nance et al 2003	Histones and Nuclear Envelopes from the Galy lab
Membranes from Bill Mohler's lab	PES-1 from Ian Hope's lab
Ventral Cleft Closure from Chisholm and Hardin	Dorsal Intercalation from Jeff Hardin's lab
Epidermal Morphogenesis from Chisholm and Hardin	Ventral Enclosure from Jeff Hardin's lab
Junctional Integrity in Epithelia from Jeff Hardin's lab	Ventral Enclosure from Ronen Zaidel-Bar's lab
Embryonic Elongation from Pettitt et al 2003	Cell Death from us

Phenotypes from RNAi Screens

RNA interference has been used to screen nearly every gene in the genome, to identify the genes that have essential functions during development.
from Hyman and colleagues	from Piano and colleagues	from Ahringer and colleagues

Larvae and Adults

The hatched embryo proceeds through four larval stages and becomes an adult producing its own embryos in just 3 days (no kidding - 3 days). The hermaphrodite adult has 959 cells, plus the eggs and sperm that contribute to the next generation.
Worm Crawling from us	Fluorescent worms crawling from The Morimoto lab
Behavior and Oxygen from Mario De Bono's lab	Seizures from The Caldwell lab
Laser Axotomy from Andrew Chisholm's lab	Neurons from Randy Blakely's lab
Neuronal Growth Cone Migration from Knobel et al. 1999	Kinesin in Neuronal Culture from Klopfenstein and Vale, 2004
Vesicle Trafficking & Defecation from Mike Nonet's lab	Calcium Transients in the Pharynx from Roger Tsien's and Bill Schafer's labs
Sperm & Worm Behavior from Sam Ward's lab	Mating and Ovulation from Paul Sternberg's lab
Ovulation from Miller et al 2001	Calcium Transient at Fertilization from Samuel et al. 2001
Caveolae from Sato et al 2006	Gonad Dynamics from Wolke et al. 2007
Meiosis from Frank McNally's lab	Fluorescent Worms Crawling from The Exploratorium