Sensory pathways first elucidated in Caenorhabditis elegans are conserved across free-living and parasitic nematodes, even though each species responds to a diverse array of compounds. Most nematode sensory assays are performed by tallying observations of worm behavior on two-dimensional planes using agarose plates. These assays have been successful in the study of volatile sensation but are poorly suited for investigation of water-soluble gustation or parasitic nematodes without a free-living stage. In contrast, gustatory assays tend to be tedious, often limited to the manipulation of a single individual at a time. We have designed a nematode sensory assay using a microfluidics device that allows for the study of gustation in a 96-well, three-dimensional environment. This device is suited for free-living worms and parasitic worms that spend their lives in an aqueous environment, and we have used it to show that ivermectin inhibits the gustatory ability of vector-borne parasitic nematodes. Insight box Nematodes are powerful model organisms for understanding the sensory biology of multicellular eukaryotes, and many parasitic species cause disease in humans. Simple sensory assays performed on agarose plates have been the bedrock for establishing the neuronal, genetic, and developmental foundations for many sensory modalities in nematodes. However, these classical assays are poorly suited for translational movement of many parasitic nematodes and the sensation of water-soluble molecules (gustation). We have designed a device for high-throughput nematode sensory assays in a gel matrix. This 'gustatory microplate' is amenable to several species and reveals novel responses by free-living and parasitic nematodes to cues and drugs.

中文翻译：

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寄生线虫和自由生活线虫的高通量感官测定。

首次在秀丽隐杆线虫中阐明的感觉通路在自由生活和寄生线虫中都是保守的，尽管每个物种对多种化合物都有反应。大多数线虫感官测定是通过使用琼脂糖平板在二维平面上统计蠕虫行为的观察结果来进行的。这些测定在挥发性感觉的研究中取得了成功，但不适用于水溶性味觉或没有自由生活阶段的寄生线虫的研究。相比之下，味觉测定往往很乏味，通常仅限于一次对单个个体的操作。我们使用微流体装置设计了一种线虫感官测定，可以在 96 孔三维环境中研究味觉。该装置适用于自由生活的蠕虫和在水环境中度过一生的寄生蠕虫，我们用它来证明伊维菌素抑制媒介传播的寄生线虫的味觉能力。线虫是了解多细胞真核生物感觉生物学的强大模型生物，许多寄生物种会导致人类疾病。在琼脂糖平板上进行的简单感觉测定已成为建立线虫许多感觉方式的神经元、遗传和发育基础的基石。然而，这些经典测定方法不太适合许多寄生线虫的平移运动和水溶性分子的感觉（味觉）。我们设计了一种用于凝胶基质中高通量线虫感官测定的装置。这种“味觉微板”适用于多种物种，并揭示了自由生活和寄生线虫对线索和药物的新反应。