Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Three-dimensional tracking of small aquatic organisms using fluorescent nanoparticles.

Ekvall, Mikael LU ; Bianco, Giuseppe LU orcid ; Linse, Sara LU ; Linke, Heiner LU orcid ; Bäckman, Johan LU orcid and Hansson, Lars-Anders LU orcid (2013) In PLoS ONE 8(11).
Abstract
Tracking techniques are vital for the understanding of the biology and ecology of organisms. While such techniques have provided important information on the movement and migration of large animals, such as mammals and birds, scientific advances in understanding the individual behaviour and interactions of small (mm-scale) organisms have been hampered by constraints, such as the sizes of existing tracking devices, in existing tracking methods. By combining biology, chemistry and physics we here present a method that allows three-dimensional (3D) tracking of individual mm-sized aquatic organisms. The method is based on in-vivo labelling of the organisms with fluorescent nanoparticles, so-called quantum dots, and tracking of the organisms in... (More)
Tracking techniques are vital for the understanding of the biology and ecology of organisms. While such techniques have provided important information on the movement and migration of large animals, such as mammals and birds, scientific advances in understanding the individual behaviour and interactions of small (mm-scale) organisms have been hampered by constraints, such as the sizes of existing tracking devices, in existing tracking methods. By combining biology, chemistry and physics we here present a method that allows three-dimensional (3D) tracking of individual mm-sized aquatic organisms. The method is based on in-vivo labelling of the organisms with fluorescent nanoparticles, so-called quantum dots, and tracking of the organisms in 3D via the quantum-dot fluorescence using a synchronized multiple camera system. It allows for the efficient and simultaneous study of the behaviour of one as well as multiple individuals in large volumes of observation, thus enabling the study of behavioural interactions at the community scale. The method is non-perturbing - we demonstrate that the labelling is not affecting the behavioural response of the organisms - and is applicable over a wide range of taxa, including cladocerans as well as insects, suggesting that our methodological concept opens up for new research fields on individual behaviour of small animals. Hence, this offers opportunities to focus on important biological, ecological and behavioural questions never before possible to address. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
PLoS ONE
volume
8
issue
11
article number
e78498
publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
external identifiers
  • wos:000327162900021
  • pmid:24244316
  • scopus:84892376793
  • pmid:24244316
ISSN
1932-6203
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0078498
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
73215f9f-3da9-4b02-b708-be444c5c2891 (old id 4179231)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:49:03
date last changed
2023-11-13 12:40:47
@article{73215f9f-3da9-4b02-b708-be444c5c2891,
  abstract     = {{Tracking techniques are vital for the understanding of the biology and ecology of organisms. While such techniques have provided important information on the movement and migration of large animals, such as mammals and birds, scientific advances in understanding the individual behaviour and interactions of small (mm-scale) organisms have been hampered by constraints, such as the sizes of existing tracking devices, in existing tracking methods. By combining biology, chemistry and physics we here present a method that allows three-dimensional (3D) tracking of individual mm-sized aquatic organisms. The method is based on in-vivo labelling of the organisms with fluorescent nanoparticles, so-called quantum dots, and tracking of the organisms in 3D via the quantum-dot fluorescence using a synchronized multiple camera system. It allows for the efficient and simultaneous study of the behaviour of one as well as multiple individuals in large volumes of observation, thus enabling the study of behavioural interactions at the community scale. The method is non-perturbing - we demonstrate that the labelling is not affecting the behavioural response of the organisms - and is applicable over a wide range of taxa, including cladocerans as well as insects, suggesting that our methodological concept opens up for new research fields on individual behaviour of small animals. Hence, this offers opportunities to focus on important biological, ecological and behavioural questions never before possible to address.}},
  author       = {{Ekvall, Mikael and Bianco, Giuseppe and Linse, Sara and Linke, Heiner and Bäckman, Johan and Hansson, Lars-Anders}},
  issn         = {{1932-6203}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{11}},
  publisher    = {{Public Library of Science (PLoS)}},
  series       = {{PLoS ONE}},
  title        = {{Three-dimensional tracking of small aquatic organisms using fluorescent nanoparticles.}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4185018/4252437.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.1371/journal.pone.0078498}},
  volume       = {{8}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}