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The life cycles of wild-type C. elegans strains N2 (Bristol, UK) and MY6 (Münster, Germany) were compared at 20°C with 5x10^9 Escherichia coli ml^-1 as food source. High-resolution life tables and fecundity schedules of the two strains are presented. Though isolated 700 km and 60 years apart from each other, the two strains barely differed in life-cycle parameters. For strain N2 (n = 69), the intrinsic rate of natural increase (r m d(-1)), calculated according to the Lotka equation, was 1.375, the net reproductive rate (R 0) 291, the mean generation time (T) 90 h, and the minimum generation time (T min) 73.0 h. The corresponding values for strain MY6 (n = 72) were r m = 1.460, R0 = 289, T = 84 h, and T min = 67.3 h. Mean generation times of 90 hours and 84 hours are 3.75 and 3.5 days, respectively. |