decision-making by nematodes in complex microfluidic mazes线虫决策的复杂的微流体迷宫.pdfVIP

Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, 2011, 2, 409-415 ABB doi:10.4236/abb.2011.26060 Published Online December 2011 (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/abb/). Decision-making by nematodes in complex microfluidic mazes * Santosh Pandey , Andrew Joseph, Roy Lycke, Archana Parashar Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, USA. * Email: pandey@ Received 5 September 2011; revised 9 October 2011; accepted 24 October 2011. ABSTRACT and trained to produce a definite chemotactic response. Other micro-organisms (e.g. bacteria, fungi, and algae) Nematodes are microscopic, soil-dwelling worms that have also been subjected to complex maze structures and navigate through soil particles in search of food or a their attraction/repulsion to chemical gradients or food suitable host. Most nematode species employ a my- reservoirs have been characterized. riad of physical and chemical cues that define their Besides chemical cues, nematodes are presented with navigation strategies. Here, we demonstrate a micro- a wide range of physical interfaces in their microenvi- fluidic method to observe and characterize the physi- ronment that need to effectively sensed and responded to. cal aspects of nematode navigation at real-time. The It may be difficult for an experimentalist to visually ob- microfluidic devices comprise a series of intercon- serve these physical interfaces or the navigation strate- nected T-maze