Development of the reproductive system of Caenorhabditis elegans

A morphological study of the growth and the development of the reproductive system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been carried out. When the first stage larva hatches from the egg it contains four primordial gonadial cells. These cells proliferate and form the entire adult reproductive system, consisting of approximately 2500 nuclei, in 45 hr at 25°C. Several distinctive morphological featues of gonadogenesis and early embryogenesis that are recognizable in the compound microscope can be used to chart the development of the nematode. The mature gonad presents a linear developmental axis both temporally and morphologically of the formation of oocytes, fertilization, and the early stages of embryogenesis. The structure of the adult ovary indicates that the cytoplasm of each newly formed oocyte is derived from a common core of cytoplasm within the multinuclear ovary.