User:Kjenkins3radford/sandbox

The fertilization process in C. elegans begins with an amoeboid sperm cell. The sperm enters any part of the outer surface of the oocyte (Samuel, Murthy,& Hengartner, 2001). While the point of entry of the sperm is known to be random, it later determines the posterior of the zygote. In the C. elegans that contain hermaphrodite oocytes, the mature oocyte goes through ovulation and travels to the spermatheca. This results in fertilization. When fertilization takes place in the hermaphrodite C. elegans, the process begins near either the intestine or anus portion of the worm. The oocytes mature in a single file line depending on their stages in development. They are formed by budding from the syncytial gonad (Samuel, Murthy,& Hengartner, 2001). Every oocyte bud created contains one nucleus. The oocytes are fertilized once they enter the spermatheca. After passing through the spermathecal, the embryos develop in the uterus and get discharged through the vulva. Another route of fertilization occurs when a male nematode inseminates a hermaphrodite. The male sperm found in C. elegans is used to fertilized oocytes (Samuel, Murthy,& Hengartner, 2001). The sperm of the C. elegans consists of a nucleus with mitochondria tightly packed around it. There are no flagellum on the sperm of C. elegans.

Life Cycle The C. elegans life cycle has an embryonic stage, a set of four larval stages and an adult stage as the last stage (Klass, 1977). First, the C. elegan embryos are and left to hatch. After hatching, the larval stage begins. Within the larval stage, there are four molts that take place in order for the organism to enter the adult stage. During the development of the embryo following fertilization, two meiotic divisions take place and the cytoplasm that was within the cell moves towards the posterior and the cortical cytoplasm is moved to the anterior region (Klass, 1977). After cleavage continues, and the cells continue to divide, gastrulation begins to take place. Gastrulation is marked by the stage where two cells move into the interior as part of the invagination process.