title: Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy as a new tool for nematode studies.
abstract: We report the results of a microspectroscopy study on the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) absorption spectra of Caenorhabditis elegans, collected from the different parts of a single intact specimen--pharynx, intestine and tail regions. The principal absorption bands were assigned to the molecular species present in C. elegans, with an excellent reproducibility for the pharynx spectrum. These results enabled us to explore if FT-IR microspectroscopy could offer a new tool for nematode identification. As an example, the discrimination among four well characterised nematode taxa is reported. The FT-IR results completely match those obtained by Blaxter and colleagues through molecular biology [Nature 392 (1998) 71].
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Diletta
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ami
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Natalello
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zullini
authors.forename: Silvia M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Doglia
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000145:classification*; D009348:Nematoda / Q000145:classification*; D013045:Species Specificity; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared / Q000379:methods