Basic maintenance questions

Model Organism: Worms Methods & Reagents
1

I am a high school student using C. elegans in an independent research questions. I have a few questions regarding basic stock maintenance that I couldn’t figure out solely based on WormBook and other publications.

  1. How often do I need to transfer worms, and what method is best for doing so?
  2. What do I do with the previous plates?
  3. I’ve had issues with NGM evaporating and leading to condensation. I have been wrapping my plates in Parafilm the whole time, should I stop this?
  4. The strain I work with requires maintenance at 15ºC. Any ideas on how to do this in a high school environment lacking an incubator capable of that? For reference I live in the Midwest but our room temperature is consistently around 20ºC.
2

Glad you are using the worm

  • You transfer worms as they need food. Probably the easiest way is to cut a block of agar from one plate and flip it onto a new plate. You can also pick a couple of worms from one plate and put them onto a new plate
  • The old plate can be autoclaved
  • Try storing your plates upside down (lid on the bottom) inside a rubbermaid container
  • If your specific strain needs to be at 15C try asking your teacher for a wine fridge

I bet someone at a local college might be able to help you with all this! Just google C. elegans + name of your local University/College.