C. elegans Movement Tracking: A Method to Assess Locomotion in Worms
Published: April 30, 2023
Abstract
Source: Davies, A. G. et al. An Assay for Measuring the Effects of Ethanol on the Locomotion Speed of Caenorhabditis elegans. J. Vis. Exp. (2015).
This video describes the use of video and tracking software to record worm movement in an arena. The example protocol measures the effect of ethanol exposure on worm locomotion.
Protocol
The following protocol is an excerpt from Davies et al, An Assay for Measuring the Effects of Ethanol on the Locomotion Speed of Caenorhabditis elegans, J. Vis. Exp. (2015). Steps to Perform on the Day before the Assay Pick L4 stage worms to fresh nematode growth medium (NGM) plates seeded with…
Materials
| C. elegans strains | Caenorhabditis Genetics Center | ||
| 60 x 15 mm Petri plates, triple vented | Greiner Bio-One | 628161 | Other plate brands will suffice. |
| NGM agar | Various | NaCl (3 g/L), agar (17 g/L), peptone (2.5 g/L), 1 ml cholesterol (5 mg/ml in ethanol), 1 ml (1 M) MgSO4, 1 ml (1 M) CaCl2, 25 ml (1 M) KPO4, pH=6, 975 ml H2O | |
| Forceps | Various | e.g., Fisher Scientific #10300 | |
| 37 °C Incubator | Various | For drying agar | |
| Copper rings | Plumbmaster | STK#35583 (48 cap thread gasket) | 1.6 cm inner diameter, 1.8 cm outer diameter copper rings |
| 100% ethanol | Various | ||
| Parafilm M | Bemis | PM996 | |
| CCD camera | QImaging | RET-4000R-F-M-12 | This camera has a large field of view. |
| Stereomicroscope with C-mount and 0.5X objective | Leica | MZ6 | Discontinued model, M60 is current equivalent. |
| Light source | Schott | A08923 | 3”x3” backlight for even illumination across the field of view |
| Imaging and tracking software | Media Cybernetics | ImagePro-Plus v6.0-6.3 | Newer versions of the software have tracking functions. |
Cite This Article
C. elegans Movement Tracking: A Method to Assess Locomotion in Worms. J. Vis. Exp. (Pending Publication), e20163, doi: (2023).