Model-independent phenotyping of C. elegans locomotion using scale-invariant feature transform.

ABSTRACT: To uncover the genetic basis of behavioral traits in the model organism C. elegans, a common strategy is to study locomotion defects in mutants. Despite efforts to introduce (semi-)automated phenotyping strategies, current methods overwhelmingly depend on worm-specific features that must be hand-crafted and as such are not generalizable for phenotyping motility in other animal models. Hence, there is an ongoing need for robust algorithms that can automatically analyze and classify motility phenotypes quantitatively. To this end, we have developed a fully-automated approach to characterize C. elegans' phenotypes that does not require the definition of nematode-specific features. Rather, we make use of the popular computer vision Scale-Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) from which we constru

SUBMITTER: Koren Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4376858 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature