Automated platform for high-throughput genetic analyses in C. elegans

项目总结 线虫是世界上研究最广泛、功能最强的遗传模式生物之一。 生物学。线虫遗传学的许多实验需要耗时和低吞吐量的人工操作 程序。例如，正向遗传筛选，通过它可以找到影响表型的基因 通过鉴定突变体，往往涉及到对数以万计的个体动物的评估。饱满 利用线虫作为模式系统将从自动化中受益匪浅。我们将发展 用于进行基因筛选和许多其他任务的自动化方法，这些任务是在线虫实验室中常规完成的。 该系统的关键部件将是用于监控个人的移动摄像机机器视觉系统 各种底物上的蠕虫，以及能够将单个蠕虫从一个平板转移到 又一个。为了测试和改进我们的方法，我们将应用我们的自动化系统来执行饱和遗传 筛选发育计时睡眠的修饰物，这种睡眠在分子和行为上与睡眠相似 哺乳动物。

PROJECT SUMMARY The roundworm C. elegans is one of the most widely studied and powerful genetic model organisms in biology. Many experiments in C. elegans genetics require time-consuming and low throughput manual procedures. For example, the forward genetic screen, through which genes influencing a phenotype are found by identification of mutants, often involves assessment of tens of thousands of individual animals. Full exploitation of C. elegans as a model system will benefit tremendously from automation. We will develop automated methods for performing genetic screens and many other tasks routinely done in C. elegans labs. The key components of the system will be a moving-camera machine vision system for monitoring individual worms on various substrates, and a robotic arm capable of transferring individual worms from one plate to another. To test and refine our methods, we will apply our automation system to perform a saturation genetic screen for modifiers of developmentally-timed sleep, which has molecular and behavioral similarities to sleep in mammals.