Neurotoxicity of Two Related Organophosphates on Caenorhabditis Elegans

Authors

Collin m. Brown, Olivet Nazarene UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

First Advisor

Greg Long

Publication Date

Spring 5-5-2016

Scholarship Domain(s)

Scholarship of Discovery

Abstract

Organophosphates are a class of toxicants that act by inhibiting the activity of acetylcholinesterase, an enzyme vital to normal neuronal activity. Dimethoate and omethoate are two organophosphates that are chemical "cousins" of one another. Omethoate is a metabolite, or byproduct of dimethoate decomposition, and is more toxicologically active than dimethoate. Both toxicants were applied to cultures of Caenorhabditis elegans to determine two qualities of the organophosphates: their relative toxicity and their cumulative effects. The toxicity of omethoate was found to be significantly higher than that of dimethoate. Omethoate was found to have a 144.4% more lethal toxicity than dimethoate, and was 132.3% more effective at causing flaccid paralysis. Neither compound exhibited notable cumulative effects.

Comments

Honors Cohort 6

Recommended Citation

Brown, Collin m., "Neurotoxicity of Two Related Organophosphates on Caenorhabditis Elegans" (2016). Honors Program Projects. 76.
https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/honr_proj/76

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.