ArticleGenes, brain, and behavior2015
The burrowing behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans: a new assay for the study of neuromuscular disorders.
Article in Genes, brain, and behavior, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers.
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Who cites it
25 citing papers in PubMed, 47 citations in OpenAlex.
- Life-like behavior emerging in active and flexible microstructures.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Efficient pheromone navigation via antagonistic detectors in Caenorhabditis elegans male.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Activity-dependent remodeling of muscle architecture during distinct locomotor behaviors in Caenorhabditis elegans.Biology open · 2026Article
- Article
- Grand challenges for burrowing soft robots.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2025Review
- FHOD-1 and profilin protect sarcomeres against contraction-induced deformation> inMolecular biology of the cell · 2024Article
- Elegant Nematodes Improve Our Understanding of Human Neuronal Diseases, the Role of Pollutants and Strategies of Resilience.Environmental science & technology · 2023Review
- Proteome-wide systems genetics identifies UFMylation as a regulator of skeletal muscle function.eLife · 2022Article
- Large-Scale Gravitaxis Assay of Caenorhabditis Dauer Larvae.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2022Article
- Translational relevance of forward genetic screens in animal models for the study of psychiatric disease.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2022Review
- Investigating the correlation of muscle function tests and sarcomere organization in C. elegans.Skeletal muscle · 2021Article
- Review
- Transcriptome changes during the initiation and progression of Duchenne muscular dystrophy in Caenorhabditis elegans.Human molecular genetics · 2020Article
- Pluronic gel-based burrowing assay for rapid assessment of neuromuscular health in C. elegans.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- Disruption of mitochondrial dynamics affects behaviour and lifespan in Caenorhabditis elegans.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2019Article
- Physical exertion exacerbates decline in the musculature of an animal model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Muscle strength deficiency and mitochondrial dysfunction in a muscular dystrophy model ofDisease models & mechanisms · 2018Article
- Clues to basis of exploratory behaviour of thePhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2018Review
- Roll maneuvers are essential for active reorientation ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Article
- A Caenorhabditis elegans Nutritional-status Based Copper Aversion Assay.Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE · 2017Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been a powerful model system for the study of key muscle genes relevant to human neuromuscular function and disorders. The behavioral robustness of C. elegans, however, has hindered its use in the study of certain neuromuscular disorders because many worm models of human disease show only subtle phenotypes while crawling. By contrast, in their natural habitat, C. elegans likely spends much of the time burrowing through the soil matrix. We developed a burrowing assay to challenge motor output by placing worms in agar-filled pipettes of increasing densities. We find that burrowing involves distinct kinematics and turning strategies from crawling that vary with the properties of the substrate. We show that mutants mimicking Duchenne muscular dystrophy by lacking a functional ortholog of the dystrophin protein, DYS-1, crawl normally but are severely impaired in burrowing. Muscular degeneration in the dys-1 mutant is hastened and exacerbated by burrowing, while wild type shows no such damage. To test whether neuromuscular integrity might be compensated genetically in the dys-1 mutant, we performed a genetic screen and isolated several suppressor mutants with proficient burrowing in a dys-1 mutant background. Further study of burrowing in C. elegans will enhance the study of diseases affecting neuromuscular integrity, and will provide insights into the natural behavior of this and other nematodes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.