Serotonin is well known for being important in the regulation of people’s mood. We found that we can model the serotonin biochemical pathway using a sensitive measure for pharyngeal pumping in C. elegans.
Kathleen Conery | Pharyngeal pumping behavior in C. elegans is employed to ingest bacteria, the worms’ normal food. Under laboratory conditions, C. elegans are reared on agar plates seeded with the E. coli strain OP50, which stimulates feeding behavior. Accordingly, we tested the ability of OP50 treatment to elicit pharyngeal pumping, using the ScreenChip system.
Kathleen Conery | Most existing anthelmintics act on ion channels or neurotransmitter receptors, so determining whether a candidate compound impairs electrical signaling is useful to know early in the screening process. Essential oil of fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) has been used traditionally in South America as a worming agent against human infections with the trematode parasite, Schistosoma mansoni. Using the ScreenChip platform, we investigated the effect of fennel essential oil as an anthelmintic on C. elegans.
