Conditional Changes in Brood Size and Speed of Development After Long-term Laboratory Culturing of C. elegans Wild-type Strains

2025/06/11 by Jocelyn M Mertz, Andy Kim, Bruce Wightman
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Tardigrade Biology and Ecology

paper · doi:10.17912/micropub.biology.001693

Abstract

wild-type strains have undergone significant alterations in brood size and speed of development. One wild-type-derived strain displays a conditional increase in brood size, while a second strain exhibits a conditional decrease in brood size. The decrease in brood size in one strain is accounted for by a similar decrease in spermatogenesis. We also found that our two derived laboratory strains differ in speed of development. The strain with increased brood size displayed a faster progression during larval development, while the strain with decreased brood size displayed a slower progression of development. Therefore, both adaptive and non-adaptive changes in wild-type strains may occur after prolonged culturing.

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