Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement
As a widely used and studied model organism, C. elegans worms offer the ability to investigate implications of behavioral change. Although investigation of C. elegans behavioral traits has been shown, analysis is often narrowed down to measurements based off a single point, and thus cannot pick up o...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2016-03-01
|
| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00060/full |
| _version_ | 1828726428903931904 |
|---|---|
| author | Nicholas eAngstman Hans-Georg eFrank Christoph eSchmitz |
| author_facet | Nicholas eAngstman Hans-Georg eFrank Christoph eSchmitz |
| author_sort | Nicholas eAngstman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | As a widely used and studied model organism, C. elegans worms offer the ability to investigate implications of behavioral change. Although investigation of C. elegans behavioral traits has been shown, analysis is often narrowed down to measurements based off a single point, and thus cannot pick up on subtle behavioral and morphological changes. In the present study videos were captured of four different C. elegans strains grown in liquid cultures and transferred to NGM-agar plates with an E. coli lawn or with no lawn. Using an advanced software, WormLab, the full skeleton and outline of worms were tracked to determine whether the presence of food affects behavioral traits. In all seven investigated parameters, statistically significant differences were found in worm behavior between those moving on NGM-agar plates with an E. coli lawn and NGM-agar plates with no lawn. Furthermore, multiple test groups showed differences in interaction between variables as the parameters that significantly correlated statistically with speed of locomotion varied. In the present study, we demonstrate the validity of a model to analyze C. elegans behavior beyond simple speed of locomotion. The need to account for a nested design while performing statistical analyses in similar studies is also demonstrated. With extended analyses, C. elegans behavioral change can be investigated with greater sensitivity, which could have wide utility in fields such as, but not limited to, toxicology, drug discovery, and RNAi screening. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:43:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7f60bef5c9e24b32a3fc8155c7f6418e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T13:43:04Z |
| publishDate | 2016-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-7f60bef5c9e24b32a3fc8155c7f6418e2022-12-22T03:30:48ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532016-03-011010.3389/fnbeh.2016.00060158854Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movementNicholas eAngstman0Hans-Georg eFrank1Christoph eSchmitz2Ludwig-Maximilians-University of MunichLudwig-Maximilians-University of MunichLudwig-Maximilians-University of MunichAs a widely used and studied model organism, C. elegans worms offer the ability to investigate implications of behavioral change. Although investigation of C. elegans behavioral traits has been shown, analysis is often narrowed down to measurements based off a single point, and thus cannot pick up on subtle behavioral and morphological changes. In the present study videos were captured of four different C. elegans strains grown in liquid cultures and transferred to NGM-agar plates with an E. coli lawn or with no lawn. Using an advanced software, WormLab, the full skeleton and outline of worms were tracked to determine whether the presence of food affects behavioral traits. In all seven investigated parameters, statistically significant differences were found in worm behavior between those moving on NGM-agar plates with an E. coli lawn and NGM-agar plates with no lawn. Furthermore, multiple test groups showed differences in interaction between variables as the parameters that significantly correlated statistically with speed of locomotion varied. In the present study, we demonstrate the validity of a model to analyze C. elegans behavior beyond simple speed of locomotion. The need to account for a nested design while performing statistical analyses in similar studies is also demonstrated. With extended analyses, C. elegans behavioral change can be investigated with greater sensitivity, which could have wide utility in fields such as, but not limited to, toxicology, drug discovery, and RNAi screening.http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00060/fullFoodLocomotionC. elegansE. colitracking |
| spellingShingle | Nicholas eAngstman Hans-Georg eFrank Christoph eSchmitz Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience Food Locomotion C. elegans E. coli tracking |
| title | Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement |
| title_full | Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement |
| title_fullStr | Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement |
| title_full_unstemmed | Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement |
| title_short | Advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in C. elegans movement |
| title_sort | advanced behavioral analyses show that the presence of food causes subtle changes in c elegans movement |
| topic | Food Locomotion C. elegans E. coli tracking |
| url | http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00060/full |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nicholaseangstman advancedbehavioralanalysesshowthatthepresenceoffoodcausessubtlechangesincelegansmovement AT hansgeorgefrank advancedbehavioralanalysesshowthatthepresenceoffoodcausessubtlechangesincelegansmovement AT christopheschmitz advancedbehavioralanalysesshowthatthepresenceoffoodcausessubtlechangesincelegansmovement |