title: Artificial dirt: microfluidic substrates for nematode neurobiology and behavior.
abstract: With a nervous system of only 302 neurons, the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is a powerful experimental organism for neurobiology. However, the laboratory substrate commonly used in C. elegans research, a planar agarose surface, fails to reflect the complexity of this organism's natural environment, complicates stimulus delivery, and is incompatible with high-resolution optophysiology experiments. Here we present a new class of microfluidic devices for C. elegans neurobiology and behavior: agarose-free, micron-scale chambers and channels that allow the animals to crawl as they would on agarose. One such device mimics a moist soil matrix and facilitates rapid delivery of fluid-borne stimuli. A second device consists of sinusoidal channels that can be used to regulate the waveform and trajectory of crawling worms. Both devices are thin and transparent, rendering them compatible with high-resolution microscope objectives for neuronal imaging and optical recording. Together, the new devices are likely to accelerate studies of the neuronal basis of behavior in C. elegans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1210, USA. shawn@uoregon.edu
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Lockery
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Lawton
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Doll
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Faumont
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Coulthard
authors.forename: T R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Thiele
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chronis
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: McCormick
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Pruitt
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D009043:Motor Activity; D009446:Neurobiology