title: Tracking Single C. elegans Using a USB Microscope on a Motorized Stage.
abstract: Locomotion and gross morphology have been important phenotypes for C. elegans genetics since the inception of the field and remain relevant. In parallel with developments in genome sequencing and editing, phenotyping methods have become more automated and quantitative, making it possible to detect subtle differences between mutants and wild-type animals. In this chapter, we describe how to calibrate a single-worm tracker consisting of a USB microscope mounted on a motorized stage and how to record and analyze movies of worms crawling on food. The resulting quantitative phenotypic fingerprint can sensitively identify differences between mutant and wild-type worms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, 701 West 168th Street, New York, NY, 10032, USA. eiy1@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Eviatar I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Yemini
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, London, UK. andre.brown@csc.mrc.ac.uk.
authors.forename: André E X
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D008124:Locomotion; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods*; D018715:Microscopy, Video / Q000379:methods
keywords: Automated imaging; High-throughput microscopy; Quantitative phenotyping; Worm tracking