Abstract
There has been a recent surge of interest in computer-aided rapid data acquisition to increase the potential throughput and reduce the labour costs of large scale Caenorhabditis elegans studies. We present Automated WormScan, a low-cost, high-throughput automated system using commercial photo scanners, which is extremely easy to implement and use, capable of scoring tens of thousands of organisms per hour with minimal operator input, and is scalable. The method does not rely on software training for image recognition, but uses the generation of difference images from sequential scans to identify moving objects. This approach results in robust identification of worms with little computational demand. We demonstrate the utility of the system by conducting toxicity, growth and fecundity assays, which demonstrate the consistency of our automated system, the quality of the data relative to manual scoring methods and congruity with previously published results.
Highlights
Several techniques exist for digitisation and computational analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans, with the highest throughput techniques being those that utilise photo-grade flatbed scanners for image acquisition
We present a very simple to implement, low-cost system based on automating elements of WormScan, which can score C. elegans on agar plates for mortality, size, and fecundity at a rate of tens of thousands of worms per hour with very little operator input
Scanning As with both WormScan and the recent Lifespan Machine system, an Epson v700 photo scanner is used to take transmission scans of C. elegans grown on a thin lawn of Escherichia coli on agar growth medium in 6cm petri dishes[1,2]
Summary
Several techniques exist for digitisation and computational analysis of Caenorhabditis elegans, with the highest throughput techniques being those that utilise photo-grade flatbed scanners for image acquisition. C. elegans is the premier model organism for ageing and toxicological research They are among the most intensively studied organisms of the last 50 years, which has resulted in the development of powerful genetic and molecular research tools. These tools include an extensive collection of readily available mutant strains[3], comprehensive and commercially available RNAi libraries[4], and a large collection of strains that each contain a GFP tagged gene. These strains provide multiple avenues by which genes of toxicological importance can be efficiently investigated, either individually or in combination.
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