Novel in vivo experimental viability assays with high sensitivity and throughput capacity using a bdelloid rotifer.

Rotifers have been used in biological research as well-characterized models of aging. Their multi-organ characters and their sensitivity for chemicals and environmental changes make them useful as in vivo toxicological and lifespan models. Our aim was to create a bdelloid rotifer model to use in high-throughput viability and non-invasive assays. In order to identify our species Philodina acuticornis odiosa (PA), 18S rDNA-based phylogenetic analysis was carried out and their species-specific morphological markers identified. To execute the rotifer-based experiments, we developed an oil-covered water-drop methodology adapted from human in vitro fertilization techniques. This enables toxicological observations of individual one-housed rotifers in a closed and controllable micro-environment for up to several weeks. Hydrogen peroxide (H