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C. elegans Chemotaxis Assay

Overview

Chemotaxis is a process in which cells or organisms move in response to a chemical stimulus. In nature, chemotaxis is important for organisms to sense and move toward food sources and move away from stimuli that may be toxic or harmful. Chemotaxis is also important at the cellular level. For example, chemotaxis is required for the movement of sperm toward an egg prior to fertilization. In the lab, chemotaxis is frequently examined in the nematode, C. elegans, which is known to migrate towards food sources in soil, but away from toxins such as heavy metals, substances with a low pH, and detergents. This video demonstrates how to perform a chemotaxis assay, which includes preparing the chemotaxis plates and the worms, running the assay, and analyzing the data. Then, we discuss examples of how chemotaxis assays can be used in C. elegans as a tool to understand learning and memory, olfactory adaptation, and neurological disease such as Alzheimer"s disease. Chemotaxis experiments in C. elegans have near-limitless possibilities for learning more about the cellular and genetic mechanisms of many biological processes, and may lead to a greater understanding of human biology, development, and disease.

Procedure

The movement of a cell or organism in response to a chemical stimulus is a behavior called chemotaxis. In this video, we will learn how to perform a chemotaxis assay using the nematode, C. elegans. We will also discuss how chemotaxis assays in C. elegans are applied to study learning and memory, olfactory adaptation, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Let’s first discuss two different types of chemotaxis. Movement toward a chemical stimulus is called positive chemotaxi

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Tags
C ElegansChemotaxis AssayChemical StimulusPositive ChemotaxisNegative ChemotaxisLearning And MemoryOlfactory AdaptationAlzheimer s DiseaseOrganismal LevelCellular LevelImmune CellsSperm CellsDevelopmentTissues And OrgansBacteriaHeavy MetalsLow PHDetergentsChemotaxis Plates

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0:00

Introduction to Nematode Chemotaxis

0:38

Chemotaxis: The Concept.

2:03

Preparing for a C. elegans Chemotaxis Assay

3:56

Running the Chemotaxis Assay

4:49

Analyzing Chemotaxis Data

5:41

Applications

8:18

Summary

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