{"title":"A free and user-friendly software protocol for the quantification of microfauna swimming behavior.","authors":"Colleen M McMaken, Kristin E Gribble","doi":"10.2144/btn-2024-0001","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Characterizing swimming behavior can provide a holistic assessment of the health, physiology and ecology of microfaunal species when done in conjunction with measuring other biological parameters. However, tracking and quantifying microfauna swimming behavior using existing automated tools is often difficult due to the animals' small size or transparency, or because of the high cost, expertise, or labor needed for the analysis. To address these issues, we created a cost-effective, user-friendly protocol for behavior analysis that employs the free software packages HitFilm and ToxTrac along with the R package 'trajr' and used the method to quantify the behavior of rotifers. This protocol can be used for other microfaunal species for which investigators may face similar issues in obtaining measurements of swimming behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":8945,"journal":{"name":"BioTechniques","volume":" ","pages":"174-182"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11416747/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"BioTechniques","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2144/btn-2024-0001","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2024/2/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOCHEMICAL RESEARCH METHODS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Characterizing swimming behavior can provide a holistic assessment of the health, physiology and ecology of microfaunal species when done in conjunction with measuring other biological parameters. However, tracking and quantifying microfauna swimming behavior using existing automated tools is often difficult due to the animals' small size or transparency, or because of the high cost, expertise, or labor needed for the analysis. To address these issues, we created a cost-effective, user-friendly protocol for behavior analysis that employs the free software packages HitFilm and ToxTrac along with the R package 'trajr' and used the method to quantify the behavior of rotifers. This protocol can be used for other microfaunal species for which investigators may face similar issues in obtaining measurements of swimming behavior.
期刊介绍:
BioTechniques is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to publishing original laboratory methods, related technical and software tools, and methods-oriented review articles that are of broad interest to professional life scientists, as well as to scientists from other disciplines (e.g., chemistry, physics, computer science, plant and agricultural science and climate science) interested in life science applications for their technologies.
Since 1983, BioTechniques has been a leading peer-reviewed journal for methods-related research. The journal considers:
Reports describing innovative new methods, platforms and software, substantive modifications to existing methods, or innovative applications of existing methods, techniques & tools to new models or scientific questions
Descriptions of technical tools that facilitate the design or performance of experiments or data analysis, such as software and simple laboratory devices
Surveys of technical approaches related to broad fields of research
Reviews discussing advancements in techniques and methods related to broad fields of research
Letters to the Editor and Expert Opinions highlighting interesting observations or cautionary tales concerning experimental design, methodology or analysis.