Mechanosensory Systems and Sensory Integration Mediate <i>C. elegans</i> Negative Gravitaxis

Ackley, Caroline R.; Kajbaf, Neda Ziaei; Washiashi, Lindsey; Krishnamurthy, Ruchira; Joshi, Pradeep M.; Rothman, Joel H.

doi:10.1101/2022.03.03.482913

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 107 publications

(230 reference statements)

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“…By contrast, SAMPL measures behavior in a volume and is well suited to the study of newly discovered behaviors that are only expressed in environments that vary across depth. One such example is gravitaxis, where Caenorhabtitis elegans display both positive 64 and negative gravitaxis, 65 underscoring the need for additional pipelines to test behavior. 66 The data we present here establish that SAMPL offers a complement to existing pipelines for Caenorhabtitis elegans assays of behavior in the vertical dimension.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SAMPL is a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

et al. 2023

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SAMPL is a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…By contrast, SAMPL measures behavior in a volume and is well-suited to the study of newly discovered behaviors that are only expressed in environments that vary across depth. One such example is gravitaxis, where C. elegans display both positive 64 and negative gravitaxis 65 , underscoring the need for additional pipelines to test behavior 66 . The new data we present here establishes that SAMPL offers a powerful complement to existing pipelines for C. elegans assays of behavior in the vertical dimension.…”

Section: Sampl For Measuring C Elegans Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Scalable Apparatus to Measure Posture and Locomotion (SAMPL): a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

Zhu

Auer

Gelnaw

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Balance and movement are impaired in a wide variety of neurological disorders. Recent advances in behavioral monitoring provide unprecedented access to posture and locomotor kinematics, but without the throughput and scalability necessary to screen candidate genes / potential therapeutics. We present a powerful solution: a Scalable Apparatus to Measure Posture and Locomotion (SAMPL). SAMPL includes extensible imaging hardware and low-cost open-source acquisition software with real-time processing. We first demonstrate that SAMPL's hardware and acquisition software can acquire data from three species (flies, worms, and zebrafish) as they move vertically. Next, we leverage SAMPL's throughput to rapidly (two weeks) gather a new zebrafish dataset. We use SAMPL's analysis and visualization tools to replicate and extend our current understanding of how zebrafish balance as they navigate through a vertical environment. Next, we discover (1) that key kinematic parameters vary systematically with genetic background, and (2) that such background variation is small relative to the changes that accompany early development. Finally, we simulate SAMPL's ability to resolve differences in posture or vertical navigation as a function of affect size and data gathered -- key data for screens. Taken together, our apparatus, data, and analysis provide a powerful solution for labs using small animals to investigate balance and locomotor disorders at scale. More broadly, SAMPL is both an adaptable resource for labs looking process videographic measures of behavior in real-time, and an exemplar of how to scale hardware to enable the throughput necessary for screening.

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C. elegans is not a robust model organism for the magnetic sense

Malkemper¹,

Pikulik

Li³

et al. 2023

Commun Biol

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Magnetoreception is defined as the ability to sense and use the Earth’s magnetic field, for example to orient and direct movements. The receptors and sensory mechanisms underlying behavioral responses to magnetic fields remain unclear. A previous study described magnetoreception in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, which requires the activity of a single pair of sensory neurons. These results suggest C. elegans as a tractable model organism for facilitating the search for magnetoreceptors and signaling pathways. The finding is controversial, however, as an attempt to replicate the experiment in a different laboratory was unsuccessful. We here independently test the magnetic sense of C. elegans, closely replicating the assays developed in the original publication. We find that C. elegans show no directional preference in magnetic fields of both natural and higher intensity, suggesting that magnetotactic behavior in the worm is not robustly evoked in a laboratory setting. Given the lack of a robust magnetic response under controlled conditions, we conclude that C. elegans is not a suitable model organism to study the mechanism of the magnetic sense.

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Mechanosensory Systems and Sensory Integration Mediate C. elegans Negative Gravitaxis

Cited by 3 publications

References 107 publications

SAMPL is a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

SAMPL is a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

Scalable Apparatus to Measure Posture and Locomotion (SAMPL): a high-throughput solution to study unconstrained vertical behavior in small animals

C. elegans is not a robust model organism for the magnetic sense

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