SKM 2023 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 28: Poster Session II
BP 28.17: Poster
Thursday, March 30, 2023, 18:00–20:00, P2/EG
Quantitative imaging of Caenorhabditis elegans dauer larvae during cryptobiotic transition — •Kyoohyun Kim1, Vamshidhar R. Gade2,3, Teymuras V. Kurzchalia2, and Jochen Guck1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen, Germany — 2Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany — 3Institute of Biochemistry, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
Caenorhabditis elegans can survive harsh environments by entering dauer diapause with reduced metabolic activity and distinct structural changes. We employed optical diffraction tomography (ODT) to quantitatively measure the transitions of mass density distribution inside living C. elegans larvae in the reproductive and diapause stages. ODT revealed that the mass density of C. elegans larvae increased upon entry into dauer diapause, and surprisingly, the harshly desiccated dauer larvae exhibited very high refractive index values (n ~ 1.5). Moreover, mutants that are sensitive to desiccation displayed structural abnormalities in the anhydrobiotic state that were not observable by conventional microscopy. Our findings open a door to quantitatively understanding the importance of material properties of an organism on the verge of life and death.