Laboratory Activity Using Accessible Microfluidics to Study Nematode Behavior in an Electrical Field †
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Authors:
Elizabeth D. Clawson1,
Val Blair1,*,
Julia F. Nepper2,
Matthew D. Stilwell2,
Travis Tangen3,
Douglas B. Weibel2,4,5
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Received 06 December 2017 Accepted 07 January 2018 Published 27 April 2018
- ©2018 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
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[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
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†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Morgridge Institute for Research, 330 N. Orchard St., Madison, WI 53715. Phone: 608-316-4691. Fax: 608-316-4609 E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract:
Microfluidic devices are used in a broad range of technological applications, from creating ingredients for cosmetics to discovering new medicines. The small size of microfluidic channels makes it possible to isolate individual cells, collections of cells, and multicellular organisms and study their biology, ecology, and behavior. Microfluidics is particularly well suited to teaching students concepts from different fields of science. A challenge with conventional microfluidic devices is that they are difficult and expensive to make, which has been a barrier for their entry into curricula and classrooms. We describe a simple and low-cost method for creating microfluidic devices and use them to study the behavior of nematodes in an electrical field. Nematodes are ecologically and agriculturally important organisms that respond robustly to various environmental cues. In this activity, we demonstrate that nematodes swim through liquid in microfluidic channels in response to an applied electric field and describe student responses to this activity.
References & Citations
Supplemental Material
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Appendix 1: Device assembly and activity preparations, Appendix 2: Nematode life cycle, Appendix 3: Nematode electrotaxis data collection worksheet, Appendix 4: Predicting laminar flow in microfluidic devices, Appendix 5: Nematode Activity Concept Map, Appendix 6: Basic microfluidic device file (SVG format), Appendix 7: Electrotaxis microfluidic device file (SVG format), Appendix 8: Electrotaxis printed backs file (SVG format)
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Abstract:
Microfluidic devices are used in a broad range of technological applications, from creating ingredients for cosmetics to discovering new medicines. The small size of microfluidic channels makes it possible to isolate individual cells, collections of cells, and multicellular organisms and study their biology, ecology, and behavior. Microfluidics is particularly well suited to teaching students concepts from different fields of science. A challenge with conventional microfluidic devices is that they are difficult and expensive to make, which has been a barrier for their entry into curricula and classrooms. We describe a simple and low-cost method for creating microfluidic devices and use them to study the behavior of nematodes in an electrical field. Nematodes are ecologically and agriculturally important organisms that respond robustly to various environmental cues. In this activity, we demonstrate that nematodes swim through liquid in microfluidic channels in response to an applied electric field and describe student responses to this activity.

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Author and Article Information
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Received 06 December 2017 Accepted 07 January 2018 Published 27 April 2018
- ©2018 Author(s). Published by the American Society for Microbiology.
-
[open-access] This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ and https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode), which grants the public the nonexclusive right to copy, distribute, or display the published work.
-
†Supplemental materials available at http://asmscience.org/jmbe
- *Corresponding author. Mailing address: Morgridge Institute for Research, 330 N. Orchard St., Madison, WI 53715. Phone: 608-316-4691. Fax: 608-316-4609 E-mail: [email protected].
Figures

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FIGURE 1
Diagram of nematodes in zones under microscope. Nematodes respond to an applied electric field by moving through different zones of a microfluidic channel.

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FIGURE 2
Microfluidic setup for the electrotaxis activity. A 9V battery supplies an electric field across a microfluidic channel.

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FIGURE 3
Activity Concept Map. An overview of suggested preparation and timing for activity (see Appendix 5 for full size image).

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FIGURE 4
Analysis of student engagement (N=40). An engagement score of 3 or above is considered to be a high level of engagement based on the validated activation survey.