title: Freeze-fracture characterization of the cuticle of adult and dauer forms of Caenorhabditis elegans.
abstract: At the ultrastructural level, a trilaminate structure, designated as the epicuticle, is always present on the outermost surface of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. The freeze-fracture technique revealed the existence of two fracture faces: an inner face that showed homogeneously distributed particles and an outer fracture face that was almost completely smooth in adult nematodes but appeared delicately granular in the dauer forms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ultraestrutura Celular Hertha Meyer, Universidade Federal, do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Peixoto
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: De Souza
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000254:growth & development / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005614:Freeze Fracturing; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning