The screening of candidate compounds and natural products for anthelmintic activity is important for discovering new drugs against human and animal parasites. We previously validated in Caenorhabditis elegans a microfluidic device (‘chip’) that records non-invasively the tiny electrophysiological signals generated by rhythmic contraction (pumping) of the worm's pharynx. These electropharyngeograms (EPGs) are recorded simultaneously from multiple worms per chip, providing a medium-throughput readout of muscular and neural activity that is especially useful for compounds targeting neurotransmitter receptors and ion channels. Microfluidic technologies have transformed C. elegans research and the goal of the current study was to validate hookworm and Ascaris suum host-stage larvae in the microfluidic EPG platform. Ancylostoma ceylanicum and A. caninum infective L3s (iL3s) that had been activated in vitro generally produced erratic EPG activity under the conditions tested. In contrast, A. ceylanicum L4s recovered from hamsters exhibited robust, sustained EPG activity, consisting of three waveforms: (1) conventional pumps as seen in other nematodes; (2) rapid voltage deflections, associated with irregular contractions of the esophagus and openings of the esophogeal-intestinal valve (termed a ‘flutter’); and (3) hybrid waveforms, which we classified as pumps. For data analysis, pumps and flutters were combined and termed EPG ‘events.’ EPG waveform identification and analysis were performed semi-automatically using custom-designed software. The neuromodulator serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5HT) increased EPG event frequency in A. ceylanicum L4s at an optimal concentration of 0.5 mM. The anthelmintic drug ivermectin (IVM) inhibited EPG activity in a concentration-dependent manner. EPGs from A. suum L3s recovered from pig lungs exhibited robust pharyngeal pumping in 1 mM 5HT, which was inhibited by IVM. These experiments validate the use of A. ceylanicum L4s and A. suum L3s with the microfluidic EPG platform, providing a new tool for screening anthelmintic candidates or investigating parasitic nematode feeding behavior.

BackgroundParasitic nematodes threaten the health of humans and livestock and cause a major financial and socioeconomic burden to modern society. Given the widespread distribution of diseases caused by parasitic nematodes there is an urgent need to develop tools that will elucidate the genetic complexity of host-parasite interactions. Heterorhabditis bacteriophora is a parasitic nematode that allows simultaneous monitoring of nematode infection processes and host immune function, and offers potential as a tractable model for parasitic nematode infections. However, molecular tools to investigate these processes are required prior to its widespread acceptance as a robust model organism. In this paper we describe microinjection in adult H. bacteriophora as a suitable means of dsRNA delivery to knockdown gene transcripts.MethodsRNA interference was used to knockdown four genes by injecting dsRNA directly into the gonad of adult hermaphrodite nematodes. RNAi phenotypes were scored in the F1 progeny on the fifth day post-injection, and knockdown of gene-specific transcripts was quantified with real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR).ResultsRNAi injection in adult hermaphrodites significantly decreased the level of target transcripts to varying degrees when compared with controls. The genes targeted by RNAi via injection included cct-2, nol-5, dpy-7, and dpy-13. In each case, RNAi knockdown was confirmed phenotypically by examining the progeny of injected animals, and also confirmed at the transcriptional level by real-time qRT-PCR.ConclusionsHere we describe for the first time the successful use of microinjection to knockdown gene transcripts in H. bacteriophora. This technique can be used widely to study the molecular basis of parasitism.

BackgroundDespite important progress in the field of innate immunity, our understanding of host immune responses to parasitic nematode infections lags behind that of responses to microbes. A limiting factor has been the obligate requirement for a vertebrate host which has hindered investigation of the parasitic nematode infective process. The nematode parasite Heterorhabditis bacteriophora offers great potential as a model to genetically dissect the process of infection. With its mutualistic Photorhabdus luminescens bacteria, H. bacteriophora invades multiple species of insects, which it kills and exploits as a food source for the development of several nematode generations. The ability to culture the life cycle of H. bacteriophora on plates growing the bacterial symbiont makes it a very exciting model of parasitic infection that can be used to unlock the molecular events occurring during infection of a host that are inaccessible using vertebrate hosts.ResultsTo profile the transcriptional response of an infective nematode during the early stage of infection, we performed next generation RNA sequencing on H. bacteriophora IJs incubated in Manduca sexta hemolymph plasma for 9 h. A subset of up-regulated and down-regulated genes were validated using qRT-PCR. Comparative analysis of the transcriptome with untreated controls found a number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) which cover a number of different functional categories. A subset of DEGs is conserved across Clade V parasitic nematodes revealing an array of candidate parasitic genes.ConclusionsOur analysis reveals transcriptional changes in the regulation of a large number of genes, most of which have not been shown previously to play a role in the process of infection. A significant proportion of these genes are unique to parasitic nematodes, suggesting the identification of a group of parasitism factors within nematodes. Future studies using these candidates may provide functional insight into the process of nematode parasitism and also the molecular evolution of parasitism within nematodes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12864-016-3468-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.