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Live imaging of Aiptasia larvae, a model system for studying coral bleaching, using a simple microfluidic device

Will Van Treuren, Kara K. Brower, Louai Labanieh, Daniel Hunt, Sarah Lensch, Bianca Cruz, Heather N. Cartwright, Cawa Tran, View ORCID ProfilePolly M. Fordyce
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/370478
Will Van Treuren
aDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Kara K. Brower
bDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
fDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305
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Louai Labanieh
bDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Daniel Hunt
cDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Sarah Lensch
bDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
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Bianca Cruz
eDepartment of Physics, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, CA 91768
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Heather N. Cartwright
fDepartment of Plant Biology, Carnegie Institution for Science, Stanford, CA 94305
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Cawa Tran
dDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
hDepartment of Biological Sciences, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929
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  • For correspondence: pfordyce@stanford.edu ctran29@csuc.edu
Polly M. Fordyce
bDepartment of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
dDepartment of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
gChem-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
iChan Zuckerburg BioHub, San Francisco, CA 94158
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  • ORCID record for Polly M. Fordyce
  • For correspondence: pfordyce@stanford.edu ctran29@csuc.edu
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Abstract

Coral reefs, and their associated diverse ecosystems, are of enormous ecological importance. In recent years, coral health has been severely impacted by environmental stressors brought on by human activity and climate change, threatening the extinction of several major reef ecosystems. Reef damage is mediated by a process called ‘coral bleaching’ where corals, sea anemones, and other cnidarians lose their photosynthetic algal symbionts (genus Symbiodinium) upon stress induction, resulting in drastically decreased host energy harvest and, ultimately, coral death. The mechanism by which this critical cnidarian-algal symbiosis is lost remains poorly understood. Here, we report ‘Traptasia’, a simple microfluidic device with multiple traps designed to isolate and image individual live larvae of Aiptasia, a sea anemone model organism, and their algal symbionts over extended time courses. Aiptasia larvae are ~100 μm in length, deformable, and highly motile, posing particular challenges for long-term imaging. Using a trap design optimized via fluid flow simulations and polymer bead loading tests, we trapped Aiptasia larvae containing algal symbionts and demonstrated stable imaging for >10 hours. We visualized algal migration within Aiptasia larvae and observed algal expulsion under an environmental stressor. To our knowledge, this device is the first to enable live imaging of cnidarian larvae and their algal symbionts and, in further implementation, could provide important insights into the cellular mechanisms of coral bleaching under different environmental stressors. The device is simple to use, requires minimal external equipment and no specialized training to operate, and can easily be adapted to study a variety of large, motile organisms.

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Posted July 19, 2018.
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Live imaging of Aiptasia larvae, a model system for studying coral bleaching, using a simple microfluidic device
Will Van Treuren, Kara K. Brower, Louai Labanieh, Daniel Hunt, Sarah Lensch, Bianca Cruz, Heather N. Cartwright, Cawa Tran, Polly M. Fordyce
bioRxiv 370478; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/370478
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Live imaging of Aiptasia larvae, a model system for studying coral bleaching, using a simple microfluidic device
Will Van Treuren, Kara K. Brower, Louai Labanieh, Daniel Hunt, Sarah Lensch, Bianca Cruz, Heather N. Cartwright, Cawa Tran, Polly M. Fordyce
bioRxiv 370478; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/370478

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