Culturing the Antarctic nematode Plectus murrayi

The Antarctic terrestrial nematode Plectus murrayi is an excellent model organism for the study of stress response mechanisms in various types of environmental conditions. In this procedure, we describe a method for culturing P. murrayi extracted from soil and sediment samples from the McMurdo (MCM) Dry Valleys of Antarctica. Nematodes are cultured on sand agar plates and incubated at various temperatures, and feed on bacteria growing on the agar media. They can be subcultured and stored at 15°C for >2 mo. This method is easy to carry out and can produce nematodes in quantities sufficient for ecological and molecular studies.