Chapter 1 Basic Culture Methods

This chapter discusses the basic culture methods of the Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) system. The nematode C. elegans is a small, rapidly growing organism that can easily be raised in the laboratory on the bacterium Escherichia coli. Because C. elegans is a self-fertilizing hermaphrodite, it is possible to grow large quantities of the organism in swirling liquid cultures, and possible to propagate severely incapacitated mutants. The rapidity of growth and the ability to self-fertilize necessitate special measures to establish a synchronous culture. C. elegans grows rapidly and is most fecund at 20°C. Growth at 16 and 25°C provides some control over the rate of growth and the facility to work with temperature-sensitive mutants. Gram quantities of nematodes can be prepared by growth on petri plates, or by rotary shaking in a flask at controlled temperatures. Petri plate methods are economical and require no special equipment. Large quantities of nematodes are more easily prepared in fermentor-like devices. Fementors offer the advantage of scalability, minimizing the number of parallel cultures required to grow a large quantity of worms.