Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Abstract: With the emerging role of C. elegans as a model for the basic biology of metabolic disorders, quantitating fat in worms has become increasingly important.Current methods involve staining worms for fat deposits to study changes in metabolic pathways; however these methods can be subjective and produce misleading information.In this study, gas chromatography was used to analyze lipid content in worms and investigate if there is a ratio of fatty acids that can distinguish fat increased from fat decreased mutants.A method was established to prepare lipid samples utilizing alkaline esterification of lipids to produce fatty acid methyl esters.Then this method was used on mutants with reported fat phenotypes.After analyzing their lipid profiles, I found no such fatty acid ratio exists.A strong degree of fatty acid homeostasis was observed regardless of different variables which can be investigated in future studies.
Author: Sabrina Fechtner
Institution: University of Colorado Boulder
Language: English
Subfield: Biochemistry
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2139980927