Abstract
Locomotion and gross morphology have been important phenotypes for C. elegans genetics since the inception of the field and remain relevant. In parallel with developments in genome sequencing and editing, phenotyping methods have become more automated and quantitative, making it possible to detect subtle differences between mutants and wild-type animals. In this chapter, we describe how to calibrate a single-worm tracker consisting of a USB microscope mounted on a motorized stage and how to record and analyze movies of worms crawling on food. The resulting quantitative phenotypic fingerprint can sensitively identify differences between mutant and wild-type worms.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Husson SJ, Costa WS, Schmitt C, Gottschalk A (2012) Keeping track of worm trackers. In: The C. elegans Research Community (ed) WormBook. doi: 10.1895/wormbook.1.156.1, http://www.wormbook.org/
Yemini E, Jucikas T, Grundy LJ, Brown AEX, Schafer WR (2013) A database of Caenorhabditis elegans behavioral phenotypes. Nat Methods 10:877–879
Edwards SL, Charlie NK, Milfort MC, Brown BS, Gravlin CN, Knecht JE, Miller KG (2008) A novel molecular solution for ultraviolet light detection in Caenorhabditis elegans. PLoS Biol 6, e198
Stiernagle T (2006) Maintenance of C. elegans. In: The C. elegans Research Community (ed) WormBook. doi: 10.1895/wormbook.1.101.1, http://www.wormbook.org/
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Medical Research Council through grant MC-A658-5TY30 to AEXB. EIY is supported by the NIH through grant T32 MH015174-37.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this protocol
Cite this protocol
Yemini, E.I., Brown, A.E.X. (2015). Tracking Single C. elegans Using a USB Microscope on a Motorized Stage. In: Biron, D., Haspel, G. (eds) C. elegans. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1327. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2842-2_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2842-2_13
Publisher Name: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-2841-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-2842-2
eBook Packages: Springer Protocols