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Park, S., Hwang, H., Nam, S.W., Martinez, F., Austin, R.H. and Ryu, W.S. (2008) Enhanced Caenorhabditis elegans locomotion in a structured microfluidic environment. PLoS One, 3, e2550. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002550

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: Decision-making by nematodes in complex microfluidic mazes

  AUTHORS: Santosh Pandey, Andrew Joseph, Roy Lycke, Archana Parashar

  KEYWORDS: C. elegans; Navigation; Maze; Microorganism; Microfluidics

  JOURNAL NAME: Advances in Bioscience and Biotechnology, Vol.2 No.6, December 2, 2011

  ABSTRACT: Nematodes are microscopic, soil-dwelling worms that navigate through soil particles in search of food or a suitable host. Most nematode species employ a myriad of physical and chemical cues that define their navigation strategies. Here, we demonstrate a microfluidic method to observe and characterize the physical aspects of nematode navigation at real-time. The microfluidic devices comprise a series of interconnected T-maze or cylindrical structures of varying geometry. At each physical intersection, nematodes are given the choice to migrate left or right. We found that this decision-making of nematodes is influenced by the angle of intersection of T-maze structures. We further showed that nematodes can be passively directed to move in a linear direction by carefully adjusting the position and spacing of cylindrical obstacles in its path. The experiments were conducted on two nematodes (non-parasitic C. elegans and pigparasitic Oesophagostomum dentatum) and in the absence of any chemical or electrical stimulants.