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Model Organism: Worms Methods & Reagents
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Hi folks,
I hope this is posted in the correct forum.
I am an analytical chemist and I just had a proposal funded to begin a new project this upcoming Fall developing new analytical methods for C. elegans. I will be the only person working with C. elegans at my institution, and my background has been in in vitro method development. So, I’d like to get up to speed on some of the basics about working with worms. I have found a number of great resources both in text and online for working with C. elegans, but have found that hands on training works really well for something like this.

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a place to go (i.e. a conference) to get hands on training or attend a “crash course” working with C. elegans. Alternatively, I’m currently at the U. of Minnesota and will be heading out to D.C. this summer and would appreciate just shadowing someone as they do some common procedures

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Hia and welcome to the big world that is worm research.

I think WormBook is a great resource to get a nice overview, also there is a method section and the WormBreeder’s Gazette.

Also I can recommend paying a C.elegans lab near you a visit for some chat about the “dirty detail” of C.elegans lab work.

And the International and US Worm Meeting are of course good places to meet the rest of the crowd.

Then for more specific topics:

  • Aging, Metabolism, Stress, Pathogenesis, and Small RNAs, 1-4 August, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
  • 2010 Workshop on the Biology of the C. elegans Male, June 29-July 1, Madison, WI, Satellite meeting to the Neurobiology Meeting.
  • Development and Gene Expression 17-20 June, EMBL ATC conference center, Heidelberg, Germany
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Cold Spring Harbor offers a course in worm techniques (http://meetings.cshl.edu/courses/c-worms10.shtml. You might also contact some of the worm researchers at Minnesota; I believe that David Zarkower and David Greenstein are both there.

Hope this helps,
Harold

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Thank you very much for your responses. I’ll have to look into available funding for the course at Cold Spring Harbor. That seems perfect.
I will likely attend one of the Madison conferences and will look up the two professors from Minnesota.
Very helpful!
thanks,
Bryce

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Hi,

I am running a small business specializing in making pre-poured agar plates including worm plates.
Please visit http://www.lab-express.com for more details. will be glad if I could be of any help in your new adventure.

Sheila Wang
LabExpress—we make your research more efficient

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Yeah, david zarkower’s research interest includes the C. elegans and I’m sure you can get more from him and in his research.

find out also more in his publications:

Ross JM, Kalis A, Zarkower D. The DM domain protein MAB-3 promotes sex-specific neurogenesis in C. elegans by regulating bHLH proteins. Dev Cell 2005;8:881-892.

Thoemke K, Yi W, Ross JM, Kim S, Reinke V, Zarkower D. Genome-wide analysis of sex-enriched gene expression during C. elegans larval development. Dev Biol. 2005;284:500-508.

Chang W, Tilmann C, Thoemke K, Markussen F-H, Mathies LD, Kimble J, and Zarkower D. A forkhead protein controls sexual identity of the C. elegans male gonad. Development. 2004;131: 1425-1436.

Ross J, Zarkower D. Polycomb group regulation of Hox gene expression in C. elegans. Dev Cell 2003;4:891-901.