Parallel Worm Tracker
Parallel Worm Tracker - Related Videos
10:44
An Introduction to Worm Lab: from Culturing Worms to Mutagenesis
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Cited by 27 •
2011
Screening for mutants with phenotypic defects is a straightforward method for identifying genes that function in a given biological process. In this article we describe how to culture free living worms (e.g., Pristionchus pacificus) in the laboratory and show two different mutagenesis methods, EMS and TMP/UV.
05:48
How to Build a Dichoptic Presentation System That Includes an Eye Tracker
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Cited by 13 •
2017
We recently proposed a method that allows dichoptic visual stimulus presentation and binocular eye tracking simultaneously1. The key is the combination of an infrared eye tracker and the corresponding infrared-transparent mirrors. This manuscript provides an in depth protocol for initial setup and everyday operation.
01:36
Worms as an Alternative Model Organism
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2026
All animal procedures described here must be conducted in accordance with institutional animal ethics guidelines and approved by IACUC. All procedures must follow the principles of the 3Rs—Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement—and must be performed by trained personnel. Introduction to C. elegans The nematode (roundworm) Caenorhabditis elegans, commonly known as C. elegans, is a widely used non-vertebrate animal model for studying fundamental biological processes. Because many cellular and...
04:19
Selective Cleaning of Caenorhabditis Worms for Enrichment of Intestinal Microbiota
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2026
Source: Morgan, E., et al. Selective Cleaning of Wild Caenorhabditis Nematodes to Enrich for Intestinal Microbiome Bacteria. J. Vis. Exp. (2021)This video demonstrates a protocol for isolating intestinal bacteria of interest from wild Caenorhabditis worms. The worms are first starved and washed to eliminate residual feeding bacteria from their surface and intestinal lumen while preserving the target microbes. After surface cleaning and multiple crawling steps, the worms are dissected to extract...
04:43
C. elegans Chemotaxis Assay: A Method to Test Chemosensation in Worms
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2023
This video introduces chemotaxis in the nematode C. elegans and shows a sample protocol testing chemotactic aversion to copper sulfate.
FAQs
The system analyzes worms within separate wells, allowing computer vision to identify each animal and reconstruct its movement trajectory over time. Those trajectories support measurements such as speed, activity, and locomotion changes for individual worms rather than relying only on an overall visual impression. This preserves animal-level variation while also enabling aggregated population measurements.
Individual measurements reveal variation in how worms respond to a pathogen or immune-modulating condition, while population-level summaries show broader behavioral trends. Examining both scales helps distinguish a response shared across the group from a response limited to particular animals. That distinction can strengthen interpretation of host health, virulence, or treatment-associated phenotypes.
Time-lapse imaging captures movement repeatedly, so the analysis can detect changes in behavior as they develop rather than recording only one moment. Reconstructed trajectories make it possible to examine speed, activity, and locomotion over time. In infection studies, this temporal information helps relate behavioral deterioration or recovery to the progression of an experimental condition.
A typical workflow places worms in separate wells, acquires time-lapse images, and applies computer vision to detect the animals and reconstruct their trajectories. The resulting movement data are then converted into behavioral features, including speed, activity, and locomotion changes. Researchers can summarize these measurements for individual worms, compare groups, and evaluate population-level responses.
Researchers can apply the method after exposing Caenorhabditis elegans to pathogens or immune-modulating conditions. Behavioral measurements then serve as scalable indicators of host health and support comparisons involving host-pathogen interactions, pathogen virulence, or treatment effects. Its higher throughput is especially useful when experiments require phenotypic screening across many worms or conditions.
Changes in these features provide measurable behavioral phenotypes associated with altered host health after infection or immune modulation. Comparing the magnitude and timing of movement changes across conditions can reveal differences in virulence or treatment response. The measurements do not replace mechanistic investigation, but they help connect an infection-associated phenotype with candidate biological processes and support scalable screening.