1 / 20

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) Kathy Szeniawski Clayton State University Spring 2008

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) Kathy Szeniawski Clayton State University Spring 2008. Alternate Food Sources Population Growth & Behaviors. Non Parasitic “Bacteria Eating” Nematode 959 Somatic Cells Hermaphrodites and Males Egg/Embryonic Stage L1-L4 molts ? Dauer Stage (Hibernation)

samson
Télécharger la présentation

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) Kathy Szeniawski Clayton State University Spring 2008

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Caenorhabditis elegans(C. elegans)Kathy SzeniawskiClayton State UniversitySpring 2008 Alternate Food Sources Population Growth & Behaviors

  2. Non Parasitic “Bacteria Eating” Nematode 959 Somatic Cells Hermaphrodites and Males Egg/Embryonic Stage L1-L4 molts ? Dauer Stage (Hibernation) Adult C. elegans Kathy Szeniawski

  3. C. elegans Natural Habitat • Nutrient and Microorganism rich organic material • Cultures obtained from compost/garden soil, rotting fruit and mushroom beds • Associated with millipedes, insects, snails and slugs Photoblog.com Queensbury net Paintworks

  4. Why C. elegans? • Easy/Inexpensive To Maintain • Lives in a Petri Dish • Can be easily mutated • Feeds on OP-50 E. coli Bacteria in the lab • Short Life Cycle/Can produce several generations in a short period of time • Perfect for Genetic Research Kathy Szeniawski

  5. OP-50 E. coli • Grow OP-50 E. coli at 37 degrees C overnight in 2X YTB (Yeast Tryptone Broth) • Pipette onto NGM agar plates • Grow your “Bacterial Lawn” for 2 days Kathy Szeniawski Kathy Szeniawski Kathy Szeniawski

  6. C. elegans Worm Farming • Prepare NGM agar plate • Grow an OP-50 E. colilawn • Chunk transfer or Single worm transfer • Grow at room temp • Extract eggs from Adult • Worms can be frozen KathySzeniawski Kathy Szeniawski Kathy Szeniawski

  7. Contamination • Maintain Sterile Techniques Kathy Szeniawski Kathy Szeniawski

  8. Worm Research • Research papers on “Different food source” experiments used different strains of bacteria to feed to the worms. • I hypothesized that wild type worms in their natural environment consumed food items since the lab worms that were collected were located in compost piles, mushroom beds and rotten fruit. • N2 wild type (normal) worms used • Transfer worms onto plates containing food products • Observe and document population growth and behavior

  9. What Will the Worms Eat? • OP-50 Bacteria • Fruit Snacks • Tofu • Hoodia chews • Trail Mix (Assorted dried fruits and nuts) • Spinach • Mushrooms

  10. Project: 10 Plates of Each • Spinach • Mushroom • Tofu • Bacteria

  11. + Swarm +++++ ++++ Population Designation (0-5) Few on Surface Several on Surface

  12. ResultsMy Hypothesis is Supported All Populations Survived

  13. Results

  14. T test Day 8 p values B/T= 9.915x10-6 B/S = 0.017 B/M = 7.77x10-6 T test Day 15 p values B/T = 0.020 B/S = 1 B/M = 1.62x10-6 Bacteria and Spinach do not support population growth as well as Tofu and Mushrooms

  15. Unusual Behaviors Observed • Worms eating food products • Egg laying balls of Hermaphrodites • Egg mounds visible to the naked eye • Larval worm balls • Larval worms participating in Cannibalism • Larval worms killing and eating dust mites • Vortexes in food

  16. Egg Mounds, Worm Balls & Vortexes

  17. Future Research • Repeat experiment with controlled seeding • Use equal masses of food products on all plates • Collect statistical data every day • Population size • Amounts of Large worms vs. Small worms • Observe behavior

  18. Conclusion • Different food sources CAN sustain C. elegans • Cannibalistic behavior observed several times; Only larval worms observed participating in cannibalism • Larval worms observed killing/eating dust mites • Overall Population size quickly spikes, then tapers off until only a few Dauer worms exist • Worm size in population tapers off to all small worms at the end of the growth curve

  19. Thank-You • Dr. Francine Norflus, Research Mentor • Dr. Michelle Furlong • Larry and MaryEllen Szeniawski • Kheem Tan • Clayton State University Faculty and Staff

  20. References • Altn, Z.F. and Hall, D.H. 2005. Handbook of C. Elegans Anatomy. Introduction to C. Elegans Anatomy. In WormAtlas. http://www.wormatlas.ord/handbook.contents.htm • Kiontke, Karin. and Sudhaus, Walter. Ecology of Caenorhabditis species. (January 09, 2006), Wormbook, ed. The C. Elegans research community, Wormbook, doi/10.1895/wormbook.1.37.1, http://www.wormbook.org • Brenner, Sydney. The worm goes to school. 2003. Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology and National Institute of Education • Barriere, Antoine. And Felix, Marie-Anne. Isolation of C. Elegans and related nematodes. (July 17, 2006), Wormbook, ed. The C. Elegans research community, WormBook, doi/10.1895/wormbool.1.115.1 http://www.wormbook.org • Shtonda, Boris and Avery, Leon. Dietary choice behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans. 2006 The Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 89-102.

More Related