Quantitative analysis of thermotaxis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Itô, Hiroko; Inada, Hitoshi; Mori, Ikue

doi:10.1016/j.jneumeth.2005.11.011

Cited by 72 publications

(88 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…However, the definitive roles of cultivation temperature and feeding state (i.e. fed versus starved) in C. elegans thermal preference, although supported in several recent studies (Mori and Ohshima, 1995;Mohri et al, 2005;Ito et al, 2006), are controversial (Yamada and Ohshima, 2003;Luo et al, 2006). Neither of the strains we evaluated (N2 and CB4856) conform to the standard expectation.…”

Section: Thermal Preference In C Elegansmentioning

confidence: 62%

“…The direct interaction between temperature and locomotion has not been appreciated in prior thermal preference studies of microscopic ectotherms, and currently no empirical framework exists for evaluating whether the resulting temperature distribution is generated by preference or by kinetics or both. Resolving this issue is important because of widespread interest in thermal preferences of small and microscopic ectotherms such as Caenorhabditis elegans (Hedgecock and Russell, 1975;Mori and Ohshima, 1995;Ryu and Samuel, 2002;Yamada and Ohshima, 2003;Mohri et al, 2005;Biron et al, 2006;Luo et al, 2006;Ito et al, 2006), Daphnia (Kessler and Lampert, 2004), Escherichia coli (Salman et al, 2006) and Dictyostelium discoideum (Poff and Skokut, 1977).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Caenorhabditis elegans is a very small ectotherm that has been used extensively to study thermal preference behaviour (Hedgecock and Russell, 1975;Mori and Ohshima, 1995;Ryu and Samuel, 2002;Yamada and Ohshima, 2003;Mohri et al, 2005;Biron et al, 2006;Luo et al, 2006;Ito et al, 2006). This androdioecious (males and selfing hermaphrodites) soil nematode is approximately 1·mm in length and 0.6·g as an adult (Ferris et al, 1995).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal preference ofCaenorhabditis elegans: a null model and empirical tests

Anderson

Albergotti

Proulx

et al. 2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY The preferred body temperature of ectotherms is typically inferred from the observed distribution of body temperatures in a laboratory thermal gradient. For very small organisms, however, that observed distribution might misrepresent true thermal preferences. Tiny ectotherms have limited thermal inertia, and so their body temperature and speed of movement will vary with their position along the gradient. In order to separate the direct effects of body temperature on movement from actual preference behaviour on a thermal gradient, we generate a null model (i.e. of non-thermoregulating individuals)of the spatial distribution of ectotherms on a thermal gradient and test the model using parameter values estimated from the movement of nematodes(Caenorhabditis elegans) at fixed temperatures and on a thermal gradient. We show that the standard lab strain N2, which is widely used in thermal gradient studies, avoids high temperature but otherwise does not exhibit a clear thermal preference, whereas the Hawaiian natural isolate CB4856 shows a clear preference for cool temperatures (∼17°C). These differences are not influenced substantially by changes in the starting position of worms in the gradient, the natal temperature of individuals or the presence and physiological state of bacterial food. These results demonstrate the value of an explicit null model of thermal effects and highlight problems in the standard model of C. elegans thermotaxis, showing the value of using natural isolates for tests of complex natural behaviours.

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Section: Thermal Preference In C Elegansmentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Thermal preference ofCaenorhabditis elegans: a null model and empirical tests

Anderson

Albergotti

Proulx

et al. 2007

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…Discrepancies in thermotaxis behavior arise as the result of procedural differences. Importantly, thermophilic migration is not observed upon initial transfer to the gradient, in steep temperature gradients, or if the worm is placed too far from the cultivation temperature (Ito et al 2006;Jurado et al 2009). However, directed movement up and down temperature gradients can be considered a stable and generalized behavior.…”

Section: Smell As the Conditioned Stimulusmentioning

confidence: 99%

An elegant mind: Learning and memory in Caenorhabditis elegans

Ardiel¹,

Rankin²

2010

Learn. Mem.

281

191

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This article reviews the literature on learning and memory in the soil-dwelling nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Paradigms include nonassociative learning, associative learning, and imprinting, as worms have been shown to habituate to mechanical and chemical stimuli, as well as learn the smells, tastes, temperatures, and oxygen levels that predict aversive chemicals or the presence or absence of food. In each case, the neural circuit underlying the behavior has been at least partially described, and forward and reverse genetics are being used to elucidate the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms. Several genes have been identified with no known role other than mediating behavior plasticity.Historically, it was believed that even if they were capable of learning, the nervous systems of invertebrates were too different to be instructive on human cognition. In the 1960s, Kandel and colleagues began studying learning in the marine mollusc Aplysia (Kandel and Tauc 1965). Using this system, they were able to relate behavioral plasticity to changes at specific synapses of identified neurons, and began a biochemical analysis of these neuronal changes, uncovering a role for cAMP, PKA, and CREB. In the 1970s, Benzer and colleagues began a genetic dissection of learning in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster (Quinn et al. 1974;Dudai et al. 1976). They established an associative learning assay (Quinn et al. 1974) and conducted a forward genetic screen, identifying the first learning mutant, dunce (Dudai et al. 1976). Since then, many genes have been cloned, and the biological basis of learning has proven to be highly conserved (Barco et al. 2006;Skoulakis and Grammenoudi 2006). Today there is no question as to the relevance of invertebrate research in the field of learning and memory.At about the same time that Kandel was beginning his work with Aplysia, Sydney Brenner chose Caenorhabditis elegans as the organism in which to study development and the nervous system (Brenner 1974). Today this transparent nematode is the world's best understood animal. It's small size ( 1 mm), short life cycle (,3 d), and ease of cultivation make it perfect for the laboratory, and its mode of reproduction is ideal for genetic analysis-selffertilizing hermaphrodites can be easily inbred or crossed with males. The genome has been mapped and sequenced, and there are thousands of mutants and RNAi constructs readily available for researchers. Furthermore, C. elegans has an invariant cell lineage and relatively simple morphology-959 cells make up the entire adult hermaphrodite (Sulston and Horvitz 1977;Sulston et al. 1983). Using serial section electron micrographs, White et al. (1986) were able to construct a neural wiring diagram of the hermaphrodite's 302 neurons. They found about 5000 chemical synapses, 600 gap junctions, and 2000 neuromuscular junctions, the location of which were fairly consistent between animals. With its invariant cell lineage and reproducible connectome, C. elegans was initially viewed as a genetically hardwired ...

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“…10,11 Previous studies on thermotaxis have been performed mainly on culture media with temperature gradients. 11 Various thermotaxis studies have been performed with a gentle temperature gradient (~0.5 C/cm) [12][13][14][15][16] and also with more steeper gradients over 1 C/cm. 17,18 The steepness of the temperature gradient is an important factor for the thermotaxis of C. elegans.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfluidic Platform for Analyzing the Thermotaxis of C. elegans in a Linear Temperature Gradient

et al. 2017

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Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), which shares a considerable amount of characteristics with human genes is one of the important model organisms for the study of behavioral responses. Thermotaxis is a representative behavior response of C. elegans; C. elegans stores the cultivation temperature in thermosensory neurons and moves to the cultivation temperature region in a temperature variation. In this study, we developed a microfluidic system for effective thermotaxis analysis of C. elegans. The microfluidic channel was fabricated using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) by soft lithography process. The temperature gradient (15 -20 C) was generated in the microchannel and controlled by Peltier modules attached to the bottom of the channel. The thermotaxis of wild type (N2), tax-4(p678) and ttx-7(nj50) mutants were effectively analyzed using this microfluidic system. We believe that this system can be employed as a basic platform for studying the neural circuit of C. elegans responding to external stimuli.

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Quantitative analysis of thermotaxis in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans

Cited by 72 publications

References 15 publications

Thermal preference ofCaenorhabditis elegans: a null model and empirical tests

Thermal preference ofCaenorhabditis elegans: a null model and empirical tests

An elegant mind: Learning and memory in Caenorhabditis elegans

Microfluidic Platform for Analyzing the Thermotaxis of C. elegans in a Linear Temperature Gradient

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