22nd Annual Student Research Conference
Hypodermal Morphogenesis in Nematodes
Hubert Ekpoh
Dr. Timothy D. Walston, Faculty Mentor
Caenorhabditis elegans is a member of the phylum nematoda (nematode). It has been studied in depth for about forty-eight years. This research led to it becoming a model organism for many fields of biological and biomedical studies. The simplicity and ease of study of the C. elegans embryo makes developmental biology one of those fields. Through its study, morphogenesis of the C. elegans hypodermis is found to occur in three major cellular movements: dorsal intercalation, ventral enclosure, and elongation. These three movements enclose the embryo in an epithelial layer and transform it into a worm-shape. After elongation, the worm is ready to hatch. Since these processes are fundamental to C. elegans development, five other Caenorhabditis and a Pristioncus were examined. The results from this research have shown that dorsal intercalation and ventral enclosure occur similarly in all the species examined, even though they are not all as transparent as C. elegans.
Keywords: Caenorhabditis elegans, model organism, morphogenesis, hypodermis , dorsal intercalation, ventral enclosure,elongation, Pristioncus, occur similarly, not all as transparent as C. elegans.
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 10-2
Location: PML
Time: 4:15