Cuticle biogenesis

The C. elegans cuticle is a protective exoskeleton of specialized extracellular matrix (ECM) consisting primarily of collagen, lipids, and glycoproteins and is required for viability. (Chisholm and Hardin 2005; Page and Johnstone 2007). The cuticle determines the shape of the body and, through connection from the epidermis to muscle, provides anchoring points for muscle contraction. The cuticle also serves as a model for ECM formation and function with molecules and pathways involved in cuticle biogenesis conserved in vertebrates (Page and Johnstone 2007). The outer epithelial layer, the epidermis, of the embryo undergoes a series of cell fusions to make large multinucleate, or syncytial, epidermal cells, which secrete the materials needed to make up the cuticle. This protective layer is produced five times during C. elegans development, with each molt ending with an entirely new cuticle.

Glucose metabolism

Glucose metabolism refers to the biochemical processes responsible for the formation, breakdown and interconversion of carbohydrates, which include glucose and its various forms such as the aldohexose glucohexose and D-glucose (dextrose), in living organisms. Glucose species molecules are an important source of energy for living organisms and is found free as well as combined in oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.Processes involving glucose metabolism is conserved in metazoans.