Individual heterogeneity to collective behaviour in nematodes

Recent developments in imaging and tracking technologies have yielded mechanistic insights into many collective systems, such as schools of fish, flocks of birds, and swarms of insects. Although most work has considered homogeneous groups, biological systems are inherently heterogeneous; individuals within the same group can differ in intrinsic properties or in interactions. The nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans offers the opportunity to experimentally control and measure the genetic and behavioural characteristics of individuals within the group. Importantly, studying the behaviour at the individual and group level for heterogeneous worm mixtures is both relevant and important for understanding the behavioural ecology of these nematodes. Within the project Individual heterogeneity to collective behaviour in nematodes we will develop simulation methods to predict the collective motion characteristics of heterogeneous groups, along with appropriate quantitative metrics to describe the behaviour.