Application Notes - Magnetic Resonance

Peanut Worm

On one hand more information on the worms morphology and metabolism over its development is important for food safety and on the other hand this information helps to understand the peanut form further in its role as a monitor for maritime environment.

The peanut worm lives at the bottom of certain regions in the ocean and was named after the peanut which it resembles; when threatened, it contracts. Its feeds on waste on the ocean bed and serves as a food source for many other species among others humans. On one hand more information on the worms morphology and metabolism over its development is important for food safety and on the other hand this information helps to understand the peanut form further in its role as a monitor for maritime environment. 

Images were acquired using a Spin Echo 3D MR Imaging methods with a field of view of 32 x 16 x 16 mm3, an resolution of 91 x 91 x 91 um3 and 6 averages in an experiment time of 15 h 29 min. Middle image: Sagital slice and right image: 3D rendering of MRI dataset, highlighting the internal structure of the worm.

References: Yang, Chuangye, Jiawei Zhang, Ruzhuo Zhong, Zhicheng Guo, Qingheng Wang, and Zhe Zheng. 2020. “Characterization of Metabolomic Differences in Peanut Worm Sipunculus Nudus between Breeding and Nonbreeding Seasons.” Aquaculture Reports. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aqrep.2019.100271.

A Peanut Worm was fixed in a 15 mm NMR tube at a temperature of 20°C filled with Fomblin. An Avance II 400 MHz Wide Bore System with a Micro2.5 Gradient System and a 15mm 1H Birdcage resonator was used for the experiments. A Spin Echo Multi Echo and Multi TR experiment (MSME-VTR) was used to optimize the TR and TE values for the time intensive 3D experiment, to ensure good contrast inside the sample.