C. elegans

American  

[el-i-ganz] / ˈɛl ɪˌgænz /

noun

1. a bacteriophagic, soil-dwelling nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans) whose genome was the first to be fully sequenced.

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C. elegans Scientific  

/ sē′ĕl′ə-gănz /

1. A nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans) that lives in soil, feeds on bacteria, and reaches lengths of about 1 mm (0.04 inch). It was the first animal whose genome was completely sequenced, and is widely used as a “model organism” by researchers in genetics and developmental biology because it has a small genome and transparent skin.

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Example Sentences

For the living system, they used the nematode C. elegans as a model organism.

From Science Daily • Nov. 27, 2025

Both conducted their research on the nematode worm - C. elegans.

From BBC • Oct. 7, 2024

A new pre-print atlas of neurotransmitters maps out such chemicals in C. elegans, a millimeter-long multicellular roundworm often used in biological experiments.

From Salon • Jul. 14, 2024

Thus opioid receptors are not found in invertebrate animals like the nematode C. elegans, the honeybee or the squid.

From Salon • Jul. 14, 2024

Beyond the 500 genes covered in the Cell study, the researchers are now working to finish the entire set of 2,000 C. elegans genes that have been implicated in embryogenesis.

From Science Daily • May 23, 2024