@conference{
author = "Milivojević, Dušan and Cerović, Bogdan and Nikodinović-Runić, Jasmina",
year = "2024",
abstract = "Caenorhabditis elegans is a free-living, non-parasitic,
fully transparent, bacteriovorous soil nematode.
Typically found in temperate climates, it
primarily inhabits organic-rich soil and decaying
fruit. Nearly six decades ago, Sydney Brenner
foresaw its potential as an ideal model system
for problems related developmental biology.
Over time, C. elegans has become instrumental
in investigations spanning aging, longevity,
host-pathogen interactions, developmental biology,
evolution, toxicology and ecotoxicology.
With more than 1200 research articles published
each year, today C. elegans is actively studied in
over a thousand laboratories worldwide. Despite
its small size, with adult hermaphrodites possessing
only 959 somatic cells and 302 neurons, C.
elegans exhibits a diverse array of specialized
tissues, including reproductive, digestive, endocrine,
neuromuscular, and sensory systems.
Moreover, this nematode shares a remarkable
number of conserved genes and signalling
pathways with humans, further enhancing its
relevance not only in biomedical research but
also in toxicology and ecotoxicology. In 1998, C.
elegans became the first multicellular organism
whose genome was completely sequenced. This
nematode is an excellent animal model for ecotoxicity
assessment because of its translucent
body, genetic manipulability, ease of cultivation,
rapid and short life cycle that is easily controlled
by temperature changes. The assessment endpoints
for the toxicology researches are various
and include number of live/dead worms, broad
size, number of eggs, embryo hatchability, locomotion
behaviours, germline apoptosis, oxidative
stress and gene expression in C. elegans. In
our laboratory, C. elegans is used in safety and ecotoxicological
evaluations of plastic degradation
products, artificial and natural materials, as well
as antimicrobial substances obtained through
the activity of specific microorganisms and their
chemical modification in the laboratory.",
publisher = "Serbian Society for Microbiology",
journal = "XIII Congress of microbiologists of Serbia: From biotechnology to human and planetary health",
title = "FROM SOIL TO LAB: EXPLORING TOXICOLOGY WITH CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS",
pages = "173-173",
url = "https://hdl.handle.net/21.15107/rcub_imagine_2384"
}