Murray State University
Where’s the Beef? An Examination of Novel Chemotaxic Pathways in C. Elegans
Institution
Murray State University
Faculty Advisor/ Mentor
Chris Trzepacz
Abstract
Homozygous mutations in a conserved aminopeptidase, pam-1, result in reduced adult fertility and a high incidence of embryonic lethality in the model nematode C. elegans. We have also casually observed that in contrast to wild-type N2 worms, which restrict their movements to the area occupied by their bacterial food source, pam-1 worms tend to wander from the bacterial lawn and occasionally leave their culture plates altogether and perish. The current investigation seeks to quantify this behavior. Two different assays were employed to investigate this behavior. The first assay utilized populations of N2 and homozygous pam-1 strains localized on culture plates at a defined position adjacent to the food source; the second assay employed mutant C. elegans strains compared to N2 strains placed directly on the food source and assayed at varying time intervals for the 1) number of worms remaining on each plate; 2) number of worms localized to the food source; and 3) total number of worms not localized to the food source. When compared to N2 worms, mutant pam-1 worms show significantly reduced ability to remain localized not only to the food source but to the culture plate as well. These differences may be indicative of a compromised pam-1 dependent chemotaxis response.
Where’s the Beef? An Examination of Novel Chemotaxic Pathways in C. Elegans
Homozygous mutations in a conserved aminopeptidase, pam-1, result in reduced adult fertility and a high incidence of embryonic lethality in the model nematode C. elegans. We have also casually observed that in contrast to wild-type N2 worms, which restrict their movements to the area occupied by their bacterial food source, pam-1 worms tend to wander from the bacterial lawn and occasionally leave their culture plates altogether and perish. The current investigation seeks to quantify this behavior. Two different assays were employed to investigate this behavior. The first assay utilized populations of N2 and homozygous pam-1 strains localized on culture plates at a defined position adjacent to the food source; the second assay employed mutant C. elegans strains compared to N2 strains placed directly on the food source and assayed at varying time intervals for the 1) number of worms remaining on each plate; 2) number of worms localized to the food source; and 3) total number of worms not localized to the food source. When compared to N2 worms, mutant pam-1 worms show significantly reduced ability to remain localized not only to the food source but to the culture plate as well. These differences may be indicative of a compromised pam-1 dependent chemotaxis response.