A Nematode, Caenorhabditis elegans, as Test Organism for Nematicide Evaluation

Abstract

Juveniles of Caenorhabditis elegans were transformed to dumpy in the media containing methomyl (10 μg/ml) or aldoxycarb (500 μg/ml), but not in the media containing methylisothiocyanate (MITC). The dumpy did not recover to its normal structure even after being transferred to fresh medium, but underwent to adulthood with a lower reproduction rate. The progeny from the dumpy forms was normal in structure, however, its reproductivity was as low as one-third of normal ones. Longevity of the dumpy form and its progeny were longer than those of normal worms. Methomyl (1 μg/ml), MITC (1 μg/ml) and aldoxycarb (10 μg/ml) did not suppress population growth, but MITC (10 μg/ml) did for the first two weeks. The population growth was markedly suppressed at 100 μg/ml of methomyl, 20 μg/ ml of MITC and 1000 μg/ml of aldoxycarb. © 1984, Pesticide Science Society of Japan. All rights reserved.