Caenorhabditis elegans Strains for SEP Teachers

I am happy to provide worm strains and the E. coli OP50 strain (for seeding NGM plates) to SEP teachers, free of charge. I have only a handful of strains at the moment, but expect that list to grow over time. I am also happy to freeze down and store your worm strains in our -80°C freezer, so you don't have to worry about long-term maintenance of worm strains.

To request a worm strain and/or OP50 bacteria, please email me at . Please let me know which strain(s) you want, and provide a mailing address (for US Mail). Please allow a minimum of 3 weeks for me to thaw out and grow up your strains.

If you want me to freeze down and store your worm strain (if it is not one I already have), please include the name and genotype of each strain, parafilm the worm plate(s), enclose in a padded mailing envelope, and mail to the following address:

: Jenny Tenlen; Seattle Pacific University; 3307 3rd Ave W., Ste 205; Seattle, WA 98119-1950

C. elegans strains available (hyperlinks will take you to WormBase descriptions of each gene and strain):

N2: wild-type strain
dpy-11(e224) (Strain CB224): dpy is "dumpy" - these worms are generally shorter and more plump than wild-type. Since this mutation is not lethal, all worms in this strain are homozygous for the recessive allele.
dpy-13(e458) (Strain CB458): Since this mutation is not lethal, all worms in this strain are homozygous for the recessive allele. For AP Biology: if you want to teach complementation analysis, dpy-11 and dpy-13 are a good pair to use. These genes are on different chromosomes, and the mutant alleles are homozygous recessive. Thus, if you mate the two strains together, the F₁ progeny will be heterozygous for each dpy gene, and will have a wild-type phenotype (the two genes complement one another).
him-5(e1490) [Strain CB4088): him is "high incidence of males" - the progeny of homozygous hermaphrodites have a higher than normal percentage of XO males, due to missegregation of the X chromosome during meiosis. Both him-5 and him-8 (below) are useful strains for setting up crosses into hermaphrodites since they produce a steady supply of males, and generally do not alter the phenotypes of other mutations in cross-progeny. him-5 is on chromosome V, and him-8 is on chromosome IV.
him-8(e1498) [Strain CB1489): him is "high incidence of males" - the progeny of homozygous hermaphrodites have a higher than normal percentage of XO males, due to missegregation of the X chromosome during meiosis. Both him-5 (above) and him-8 are useful strains for setting up crosses into hermaphrodites since they produce a steady supply of males, and generally do not alter the phenotypes of other mutations in cross-progeny. him-5 is on chromosome V, and him-8 is on chromosome IV.
mes-1(bn7) (Strain SS149): mes is "maternal-effect sterile" - the progeny of homozygous hermaphrodites are viable but sterile at temperatures above 20°C. At temperatures below 20°C, most progeny are fertile, but have reduced brood sizes. The mes-1 gene is on the X chromosome, and encodes a pseudo-receptor tyrosine kinase. This strain is particularly useful if you want to talk about the effects of temperature on protein folding. All worms in this strain are homozygous for the recessive allele.
rol-6(e187) (Strain CB187): rol is "roller" - worms with mutations in the rol-6 gene have cuticle defects that cause the worms to roll around its body axis, either clockwise or counter-clockwise. The rol-6 gene is homologous to a human collagen gene. This is a fun phenotype to observe - it looks like the worms are making crop circles in the bacteria. Since this mutation is not lethal, all worms in this strain are homozygous for the recessive allele. Since both rol-6 and dpy-13 strains contain mutations in collagen genes, with very different phenotypes, it is a good visual demonstration of the diverse roles that similar proteins play in development.
unc-22(e66) (Strain CB66): unc is "uncoordinated" - phenotypes associated with defective movements. The unc-22 gene encodes a protein with homology to titin, a muscle-specific protein. Mutants are twitchers - they move slowly and tremble.

Additional strains are available from the Caenorhabditis Genetics Center