Advances in the Toxicity Evaluation of Environmental Exposure based on Caenorhabditis Elegans at Different Developmental Stages

So far, the model animal of Caenorhabditis elegans has been widely used in the studies of environmental safety evaluation and toxicology. In this paper, we reviewed the progresses on sensitivity to environmental exposure of Caenorhabditis elegans at different developmental stages using the lethality, reproduction, locomotion behavior, neuronal survival and development, synaptic activity, intestinal autofluorescence, and stress response as evaluation endpoints. Moreover, three methods used to analyze the sensitivity of Caenorhabditis elegans at different developmental stages to environmental exposure were summarized. Furthermore, the questions needed to be further solved for applications of Caenorhabditis elegans at different developmental stages in evaluation of environmental exposure have been discussed, and the related suggestions have also been provided.