Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Computational Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Germline to Study the Distribution of Nuclei, Proteins, and the Cytoskeleton
Published on: April 19, 2018
Estimation of C. elegans cell- and tissue volumes
Jonathan J Froehlich1, Nikolaus Rajewsky1, Collin Y Ewald2
1Systems Biology of Gene Regulatory Elements, Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, Hannoversche Str 28, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Abstract:
Although C. elegans is one of the best-studied model organisms, an estimate of its cell sizes and tissues is missing. Here we used the Virtual Worm that is based on electron microscopy images to calculate a zeroth-order approximation of cell and tissue sizes of C. elegans. We conclude that the intestine is the largest tissue, followed by the hypodermis, gonads, body wall muscles, pharynx, and neurons. Thus, we provide an approximation of tissue volumes of young adult C. elegans.

