Figure 1. WorMotel design, fabrication, preparation, and experimental setup.
(a) 3D rendering of WorMotel geometry. (b) Schematic cross-section of a single well. (c) Fabrication and loading process (d) Image of WorMotel filled with agar, bacteria, and adult C. elegans. (e) Experimental setup (f) Schematic of blue light stimulation system. (g) Representative image of 240-well WorMotel (h) High resolution image of nine wells, each housing a single young adult N2 worm.
Figure 1—figure supplement 1. Comparison of image quality with standard 384-well plate and WorMotel.
(a) Image of L4 worms on agar in a standard 384-well plate. Scale bar: 2 mm. (b) Image of L4 worms on agar in a WorMotel. Individual animals are clearly visible in (b) but not in (a).
Figure 1—figure supplement 2. 240-Well WorMotel (a) 240-well WorMotel PDMS insert.
Scale Bar: 1 cm. (b) PDMS insert placed inside an OmniTray. (c) Computer rendering of the 240-well WorMotel negative master (d) Image of a WorMotel filled with agar, bacteria, and worms in an OmniTray.
Figure 1—figure supplement 3. WorMotel prevents burrowing.
Percent of animals burrowing in the WorMotel (red squares, n = 96) and in a standard 384-well microplate (blue circles, n = 80).
Figure 1—figure supplement 4. Schematic of automated imaging system.
An automated plate carousel (Thermo) containing eight plate stacks holds up to 240 WorMotel plates, each containing 240 C. elegans. A plate handling robot (Thermo Orbitor, ThermoFisher Scientific, Philadelphia, PA) moves plates onto one of 3 imaging/illumination systems, where they are serially imaged. The system is contained in a light-tight enclosure and temperature is controlled to within 0.2 C by a temperature controller. All functions are controlled by custom LabView software.