C. elegans nervous system
<p>Jul 10, 2010 12:39 PM
 
excellent!!
 
The<b> nervous system is by far the most complex organ in <em>C. elegans</em>.</b> Almost a third of all the cells in the body
 (<b>302 out of 959</b> in the adult hermaphrodite to be precise) are neurons. 20 of these neurons are located inside the pharynx, which has its own nervous system. The remaining<b> 282 neurons are located in various ganglia in the head and tail and also along the ventral cord</b>, the main longitudinal axon tract. The majority of the neurons develops during embryogenesis, but 80 neurons - mainly motoneurons - develop postembryonically. The structure of the nervous system has been described in unprecedented detail by electron microscopic reconstruction (<a href="http://www.wormbase.org/db/misc/paper?name=WBPaper00000938;class=Paper">White et al., 1986</a>). The high resolution obtained with electron microscopic images allowed White and colleagues to identify all the synapses (about <b>5000 chemical synapses, 2000 neuromuscular junctions and some 500 gap junctions)</b>, map all the connections and work out the entire neuronal circuit.</p>