Studying Behaviors of
Micro-organisms
Design Presentation
By:
Kyle Petersen
Umair Ilyas
Prateek Bhatnagar
Jon Sunderland
Justin Mai
Template
1.Intro
a.title
b.introduction
2.Overview
i. Geotaxis
a.list of experiment
b.quick explanation of each one/reason they are important
c.preview of general designs
ii. Magnetotaxis
a.list of experiment
b.quick explanation of each one/reason they are important
c.preview of general designs
iii. Biomotors-Diffusion
a.list of experiment
b.quick explanation of each one/reason they are important
c.preview of general designs
3.Details
a.all designs for each experiment with explanation
b.controls and environmental factors of each experiment
c.any particular difficulties in general and for experiments
4.Goals
a.explanation of paper
b.information needed for paper
5.Conclusion
a.how experiments fit together or not
b.importance of research
c. Many of the experiments seem to be completely isolated
form one another and for the sake of our research they are;
Once we have established the specific behavioral traits we are
looking at then we can do larger and more complex studies in
which all of our experiments are utilized. Behavioral
experiments such as ours develops understanding
of................Our research on geotaxis will culminate in a paper
to summarize our findings, all other
experiments.........................."
Introduction
• What:
o Behavioral Research on C.elegans
• How:
o Designing and executing specific experiments
• Why:
o Some features of C.elegans can represent human
parallels (magnetite)
o Some behaviors may have useful functions (biomotors)
o Using known behaviors can help elicit useful functions
(using electro/magnetotaxis for desired movement)
• Goal
o Scientific paper describing our results submitted to be
published
Magnetotaxis-Objectives
• Experiments to prove that C.elegans contain magnetite
(Fe3O4)
• Carry out experiments to find out the stage(L3,L4,
young adult,adult ) at which that magnetite is produced by
C.elegans
• Carry out experiments to know the value of optimum field at
which we get the strongest response from C.elegans.
• Experiments to observe whether that magnetite is attracted
to magnetic field or not
• Compare different magnetic filed intensities and response of
C.elegans using permanant magnets
• Observe the behavior of C.elegans when polarity of
the permanant magnets is switched during the experiment
Magnetotaxis-Experiments Performed
• Experiment to determine the attraction of C.elegans to North
or south pole of a magnet
• Carried out experiments to identify the best microfluidic
channel for Magnetotaxis experiments
• Experiments which change the polarity of the magnets after
some frames to record the change in movement of
C.elegans
Magnetotaxis-Results
• Experimets performed by wormguys have shown that
C.elegans are attracted towards the south pole of a magnet
• The best microfluidic channel for carrying out magnetotaxis
is the t-shaped straight channel
• Changing the polarity of magnets does have an impact on
the movement of C.elegans as they seem to prefer the south
pole over the north pole.
Magnetotaxis-Experiments to be
performed
• Experiments to determine optimum field
• Experiments to find the stage at which magnetite is
produced
• Carry out experiments to see the behavior of C.elegans
when they are exposed to a magnetic field produced by
North-North and South-South poles of a magnet.
Magnetotaxis-Requirement for a
research paper
• Establish a control-experiment without magnetic field
• Carry out experiments with a magnetic field and then
compare it with the control and see whether that they are
attracted more towards one pole or not.
• Carry out pole switching experiments to confirm our
hypothesis
• Attach pertinent data,pictures and videos to make the paper
more authentic
Geotaxis - Objectives
Objective - Experiment with C.elegans to prove their response
to Geotaxis
Carry out experiments to:
• Find out the stage(L3,L4, young adult,adult ) which react to
gravity when present.
• Know the angle of optimum gravitational force at which we
get the strongest response from C.elegans.
• Determine whether the C.elegans have a negative or
posititve geotaxis.
Geotaxis - Objectives (cont'd)
After the C.elegans' response to geotaxis has been fully
determined, we can begin to integrate all of the previous
experiments done horizontally on a vertical plane.
Such integrated tests with Geotaxis will be:
•
•
•
•
Electrotaxis
Bio-motors
Magnetotaxis
Phototaxis
Geotaxis - Lab Set-up
In order to test the Geotaxis properties of the C.elegans, we
need to have specialized equipment to accurately test these
worms response to gravity.
Equipment that we have:
o
Vertical Facing microscope
A vertical glass slide holder, being able to hold a glass
slide accurately at 15 degree increments.
o A uniform light source for vertical facing microscope.
o
o
Microfluidic master-mold channels specifically designed to
test Geotaxis
Geotaxis - Lab Set-up (cont'd)
Required Equipment:
• Software for recording on Vertical facing microscope
• Finished Microfluidic polymer channels
Geotaxis-Test Plan
Once we receive all of the required equipment we will begin
our experiments.
1. Start with control experiment, T-channel to test for
positive/negative geotaxis
2. Change angle of slide and record the change in velocity.
3. Later test with different strains and age groups to see if
gravitational force is sensed by entire species.
Bio-Motors - Objective
Objective - Experiment with C.elegans to prove their use as
Biomotors
Find various ways that C.elegans can be used as Biomotors
Possible uses could be:
• Using C.elegans to speed up time of Diffusion of:
o
o
A drug in a solution
Different solid objects that need to be mixed
Apply Electrotaxis to have C.elegans:
o
o
o
Transfer objects from a source to a destination
Rotate micro-turbine
Create flow in a liquid solution
Bio-Motors - Objective (cont'd)
• Apply Electrotaxis to have C.elegans:
o
o
o
Transfer objects from a source to a destination
Rotate micro-turbine
Create flow in a liquid solution
Conclusion
• What we have done (designed experiments, performed
some magneto and planned for more tests)
• What we have left to do (finish testing magnetotaxis, our
focus, and then geotaxis)
• When our paper will be written (last two weeks of semester)
• What will be considered success? (getting experiments done
and have first draft of paper written by the end of the
semester, submitted soon after.)