[
Methods Cell Biol,
1995]
The Worm Community System (WCS) is a digital library that contains knowledge about Caenorhabditis elegans, and a software environment that enables the user to interact with the community library across the international computer network, the Internet. The functions of the software environment enable the user to browse, search, and retrieve the existing knowledge of the community. In addition, users may add data and literature to the library for timely dissemination to the research community and for private collaboration with colleagues at local or remote sites. This capacity for dynamically updating information should help to better propagate knowledge across the community. This chapter provides a survey of the system's history, features, and requirements, and describes basic uses of the system.
[
2000]
There is growing interest in the use of bioindicators to assess metal toxicity in soil. The current ASTM Standard Guide for Conducting Laboratory Soil Toxicity Test with the lumbricid earthworm Eisenia fetida (E 1676-97) uses a common earthworm. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a natural soil inhabitant with many characteristics that make an ideal alternate test organism. It has been used to assess metal toxicity in aquatic media, agar plates and in soil. Work is currently underway on the design of a C. elegans procedure for metals in soil. The objective of this study was to determine differences in LC50S between the chloride salt and the nitrate salt forms of cadmium, copper, lead, nickel, and zinc, in three types of soil: Cecil, Tifton, and ASTM artificial soil. Results indicated that the toxicological effect of the metallic salt varies and is dependent on the particular metal. For Cd and Pb the nitrate form is more toxic while Cu and Ni are more toxic in the chloride form. The composition of the soil also effected toxicity, with the metal being the least toxic in ASTM soil and more toxic in the Tifton soil. This strongly correlated with organic matter and clay content of the soil. It is important to determine the effects of carrier salt form and soil composition on metal toxicity, not only in order to standardize the protocol for C. elegans soil toxicity testing, but also in establishing acceptable exposure concentrations in the soil.