Physical Characterization of Ethylemethane Sulfonate (EMS) Treated Caenorhabditis Elegans

Ethyl Methane Sulfonate (EMS), a carcinogen, was used to induce mutations in the germ line of the hermaphroditic nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) are particularly good model organisms for studying forward genetic mutations due to the their self-fertilizing capability, short reproduction time, and large number of resultant progeny. EMS mutagenesis works to change the worm phenotype dramatically over a period of 4-5 days, during which mutagenized worms are propagated (and/or out-crossed) to reduce background mutations and generate stable mutagenized strains. The stable mutant strains, termed “F₃”, produce all homozygous offspring mutants with exactly the same genetic makeup. The hypothesis/goal of these experiments is to produce stable EMS-mutagenized worm strains, and characterize their individual phenotypes in preparation for future genetic characterization. Stocks of the stable mutagenized worm strains are then cryogenically immortalized. This project was funded by National Institute of Health (NIH) grant number: R25 GM048998-13.