MitoTracker labeling of male sperm

Model Organism: Worms Methods & Reagents
1

Hello,

I’ve been looking through the different ways to follow sperm transfer during mating. Most papers use Mitotracker CMXRos, but I was wondering if other versions/colors don’t work at all, don’t work as well, or haven’t been tested. I would prefer to use MitoTracker Deep Red FM, but I would love to know if it doesn’t work before buying it! Advice would be appreciated!

-Kevin.

2

Hey Kevin,

I guess it’s a question of labeling all the mitos, or only the ‘quality’ mitos.

Skim over the staining mitochondria section: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cyto.a.21061/full

Funny enough, I’ve used a bunch of the MTs (Green FM, Orange CMTMRos, Red CMXRos, Red CM-H2XRos) except Red and Deep Red) for other stuff.

3

Thanks, Snug. Do you know how well other mitotrackers work to label C. elegans sperm? The mechanism through which they label mitochondria is inconsequential to me.

Thanks,
-Kevin.

4

CMXROS works really well. I think the main reason people haven’t really used Deep Red FM yet is because it’s a ‘newer’ derivative and people just stick with what’s been tried and true. Molecular Probes is awesome for customer support, so I’m sure you could contact your local rep and get a sample size format for free or a nominal cost so you don’t end up being stuck with 20 vials of useless powder.

5

Thanks!