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Supporting information
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C. elegans sensing of and entrainment along obstacles require different neurons at
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different body locations
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Seong-Won Nama, Chen Qianb, So Hyun Kima, Danny van Noorta, Keng-Hwee Chiamb,c,ǂ,
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and Sungsu Parka,b,ǂ
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a
Department of Chemistry and Nano Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea
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b
Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore
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c
A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute, Singapore
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mail: chiamkh@bii.a-star.edu.sg, A*STAR Bioinformatics Institute, 30 Biopolis St. #07-
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01, Singapore 138671, Singapore
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S. Park, Tel: +82-2-3277-4081, Fax: +82-2-3277-3419, E-mail: nanopark@ewha.ac.kr,
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Department of Chemistry and Nano Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 120-750,
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Korea
Co-corresponding authors: K. H. Chaim, Tel: +65-6478-8264, Fax: +65 6478-9047, E-
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Fig. S1. The micro-platform with PDMS walls and rectification behavior of the wild-type
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N2. (A) Distribution of C. elegans after starting experiment and 180 min. (B) Distribution
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of C. elegans in the micro-platform with a wall containing funnels and a flat wall. The
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ratio between worms on the left and right side was based on the enrichment of worms on
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the right side of the structure. (Density ratio is the number of worms on the right side
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divided by the number of worms on the left side). The ratio was given as the mean ±
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standard deviation (s.d.) of 4 independent experiments (each experiment with 50 - 60
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young adult worms)
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Fig. S2. Behaviors of wild-type (N2) and mutants (mec-4, mec-10, osm-9) before and
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after bumping into the funnel wall. Migration length and speed were given as the mean ±
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standard deviation (s.d.) of 10 independent experiments. Significant difference was
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calculated with one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was with Bonferroni post-tests.
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(A) Migration length and speed of N2 and mutants before bumping the funnel wall. (B)
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Migration length and speed of N2 and mutants on the funnel wall. (C) Migration length
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and speed of N2 and mutants after leaving the funnel wall.
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Fig. S3. Chemotaxis assay of C. elegans to E. coli OP50. (A) Experimental setup of
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chemotaxis with a funnel wall. C. elegans were initially spread on the right side and E.
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coli OP50 dropped on the left side. Animals became concentrated with time on the left
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side. (B) Distribution of C. elegans on the left funnel side after with and without
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providing OP50 on the left funnel side. The ratio between worms on the left and right
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side was based on the enrichment of worms on the left side of the structure. (Density ratio
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is the number of worms on the left side divided by the number of worms on the right
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side]). The ratio was given as the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.) of 3 independent
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experiments (each experiment with 30-40 worms). Young adult worms were collected in
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NGM buffer and washed 3 with NGM buffer, and 30-40 worms were located to the
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right side of the funnel wall, while two drops (3 L) of overnight culture (OD600=3.6) of
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E. coli OP50 in LB (Luria Bertani) were transferred to the left side of the funnel wall and
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dried.
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Supplemental Table 1. C. elegans strains used in this study. Amplitude and speed of
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each strain were given as the mean ± standard deviation (s.d.) of 10 independent
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experiments.
Strain
Function
Expressed
neurons
Amplitude
(m)
Speed
(m/sec)
Rectification
N2
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114.6  25.8
92.9 
75.8
Yes
mec-4
(e1339)
Na+
channel
(degenerin)
ALM, AVM
128.9  36.8
107.1 
69.6
No
mec-10
(e1515)
Na+
channel
(degenerin)
ALM, AVM &
FLP, PVD
132.1  23.9
90.6 
74.6
No
osm-9
(ky10)
TRP ion
channel
like
ASH, OLQ
121.4  33.0
119.7 
97.1
Yes
IL-2 (-)
Putative
mechanose
nsory
IL-2
74.3  33.4
103.9 
34.9
Yes
trpa-1
(n4255)
TRP ion
channel
IL-1, OLQ 
ASH
119.5  29.7
114.5 
43.6
Yes
trp-4
(sy695)
TRP ion
channel
ADE, CEP &
DVA, DVC
104.6  18.8
118.3 
48.5
Yes
glr-1
(n2461)
AMPA type
glutamate
receptor
Motorneurons,
command
interneurons,
ventral nerve
103.7  29.5
119.3 
43.6
Yes
eat-4
(ky5)
BNPI
vesicular
glutamate
transporter
Glutamatergic
neurons,
pharynx and
extrapharynge
al NS.
92.9  17.2
118.7 
38.9
Yes
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Supplemental Table 2. Motility parameters used in the simulations, chosen to match
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experimental values. (A) Persistence length of each strain. (B) Crawling speed of each
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strain. The persistence length and speed of each strain were given as the mean ± standard
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deviation (s.d.) of 10 independent experiments.
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A. Persistence length (mm)
Strain
Before bumping against the
On the wall
Out of the wall
funnel wall
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N2
1.99  1.26
0.99  0.38
1.43  1.02
mec-4
1.80  0.74
0.20  0.27
0.25  0.15
mec-10
1.86  1.37
0.05  0.03
0.25  0.17
osm-9
2.32  1.38
1.68  0.88
2.66
Before bumping against the
On the wall
Out of the wall
 1.27
B. Speed (m/sec)
Strain
funnel wall
N2
92.93  75.76
29.05  14.81
92.51  93.68
mec-4
107.05  69.60
15.70  15.45
30.46  33.93
mec-10
90.57  74.57
16.84  14.26
62.15  10.44
osm-9
119.70  97.08
47.52  35.71
111.63  103.74
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