Chan A et al. (2000) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Protocol for Antibody Staining Mitotic and Meiotic Chromosomes in the Gonad"

Chan A, Meyer BJ

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 2000]

1. For any specific antibody try 1%, 1.5%, or 2% paraformaldehyde (PFA) with 5-minute fix:

Trent C et al. (1982) Worm Breeder's Gazette "map positions of genes that affect egg-laying in C elegans."

Horvitz HR, Tsung N, Trent C

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1982]

Mapping and complementation studies of egg-laying defective (egl) mutants have defined 34 new genes. These mutants are fertile, but show abnormalities in the time of onset or rate of egg-laying. Some of the mutants lay only late-stage eggs or larvae, becoming transiently bloated but eventually releasing most of their progeny. Others lay few or no eggs and become bags of worms in which progeny have hatched internally. The approximate map position of each new gene is indicated below. Mutants indicated by an allele number may be alleles of nearby egl or previously identified genes. [See Figure 1]

Hodgkin JA et al. (1997) Worm Breeder's Gazette "CGC Genetic Map and Nomenclature Subcontract"

Hodgkin JA, Durbin RM, Martinelli SD

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1997]

1997 Genetic Map The deadline for new genetic map data to be incorporated into the 1997 Genetic Map of Caenorhabditis elegans (Printed Version) is 30 April 1997. Data can be sent: (preferably) by e-mail to: cgc@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk. Forms for data submission are available by e-mail or fax, on request to this address. (or alternatively) by fax or mail, to: Jonathan Hodgkin, MRC-LMB, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, England [fax (+44) 1223 412142]

Barnes TM (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Genome Parametrics, or Look, I Can Use Query and Tablemaker!"

Barnes TM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

Genome Parametrics, or Look, I can use Query and Tablemaker! Tom Barnes Deptartment of Biology, McGill University, Montreal PQ H3AlB1 Canad

Chalfie M (1984) Worm Breeder's Gazette "a program to keep track of nematode stocks."

Chalfie M

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1984]

I have written a program for the IBM PC that keeps track of nematode stocks. The current version allows a naive operator to 1) add, edit, or delete data on a strain; 2) obtain the complete listing on a strain identified by its strain name, allele name, gene name, or inhouse designation; 3) list (either on the screen or a printer) the collection by strain, Revco location, liquid nitrogen tank location; 4) list the lab's own strains or mutations; 5) list strains that contain particular genes or mutations or have particular phenotypes; 6) list the alleles of a gene (e.g. unc-3) or a series of genes (e.g. unc-3 to unc-17); and 7) list a subcollection of the data, i.e. it will give the strain, gene, and mutation names and the chromosome for each allele on an imputted list (e.g. stocks at 25 C). The program is written in dBASE II (version 2.4). Anyone who would like to use or play with this program is welcome to it. However, please do not write me for a copy. Mark Edgley at the stock center has generously consented to be the go-between in all of this. Mark says that $10 should cover the costs of copying the program and sending a diskette. We cannot, however, distribute copies of dBASE II; these have to be obtained elsewhere. The program is clearly not complete (e.g. as of yet there is no provision to easily get information on references that cite particular strains). People should use the program as a guide and feel free to modify it any way they wish. I would enjoy hearing about any improvements.

Ward S (1979) Worm Breeder's Gazette

Ward S

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1979]

I have observed that treatment of worms with the anesthetic propylene phenoxytol allows them to take up dyes into somatic tissues. Worms were fed 100 g/ml of Hoechst 33258 or ethidium bromide and then treated with 1:500 propylene phenoxytol in the presence of the dye. After fifteen minutes the worms are removed from the anesthetic. They recover in about 15 minutes and can be observed with the fluorescence microscope to have most of their somatic nuclei labelled. They are beautiful to watch. I do not know if these labelling conditions are optimal or how long the worms will live and remain stained. Presumably other dyes or drugs or substrates would get in too. Unfortunately, these conditions do not label the gonad. If anyone finds a way to get non-lipophilic labels into the gonad of an intact worm, please let me know.

Chamberlain SH et al. (1994) Worm Breeder's Gazette "A Molecular Approach to Identify skn-1-Responsive Genes in the Early C. elegans Embryo"

Chamberlain SH, Bowerman BA

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1994]

A molecular approach to identify skn-1-responsive genes in the early C. elegans embryo. Stephen H. Chamberlain and Bruce Bowerman, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403

Hedgecock EM (1989) Worm Breeder's Gazette "Staining Sensory Neurons with Carbocyanine Dyes"

Hedgecock EM

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1989]

The lipophilic carbocyanine dyes, DiI and DiO, readily insert into exposed cell membranes and diffuse in the plane of the membrane to stain cell processes completely. These dyes stain the amphid and phasmid neurons of living C. elegans with a selectivity similar to FITC. The staining is brighter and, more importantly, does not readily fade by either photobleaching or physiological mechanisms. Either DiI (rhodamine filters) or DiO (fluorescein filters) can be used but the former transfers to the sheath cells more rapidly. The staining conditions are robust; 2 hours in a 10 g/ml suspension of DiOC18(3) (Cat. No. D275, Molecular Probes, Eugene OR) in M9 buffer at room temperature works well for the amphid and phasmid neurons.

Wolf N et al. (1978) Worm Breeder's Gazette

Wolf N, Hirsh DI

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1978]

We have examined the early cleavages of our ts zyg mutants by Nomarski optics and measured the number of nuclei in the embryos as a function of time at restrictive temperature using Hoechst stain. We find that all of the strict maternal mutants (M,M) either have abnormal early cleavages or never progress beyond 200 nuclei or both. Two of the other zyg mutants display abnormal early cleavages. Interestingly these are the paternal mutant B235 (M,N,P) and the anomalous mutant B261 (M,N,?). None of the other mutants displays abnormal early cleavages or stops before 200 nuclei. The first cleavages can be schematically diagrammed as follows for N2 and for some of the mutants: [See Figure 1]

Armand I et al. (1996) Worm Breeder's Gazette "The Control of Body Size"

Leroi AM, Armand I, Emmons SW

[Worm Breeder's Gazette, 1996]

Exactly 100 years ago (Jan 10, 1896) Edwin Conklin published a paper entitled "Cell Size and Body Size." In it he posed the following question: do species that vary in adult body size differ in cell number or in cell size? His answer, for a genus of intertidal snails, was that species that vary in body size vary in cell number, but that cell size is more or less constant over evolutionary time.