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.

---

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.

---

Example Sentences

The team, which included Nobel laureate Gary Ruvkun, PhD, studied a tiny roundworm species called C. elegans to understand how cells might function without frataxin.

From Science Daily • Dec. 12, 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

"In C. elegans, TEBP-1 and TEBP-2 protect the chromosome ends."

From Science Daily • Apr. 8, 2024