Worm Breeder's Gazette 15(2): 16 (February 1, 1998)

These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.

Ivermectin as a Paralytic Agent

Joe Dent, Leon Avery

UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 6000 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235-9148

We have found it difficult to paralyze worms for the purpose of
visualizing and/or photographing GFP expression. The best agent for
paralyzing worms, sodium azide, quenches GFP fluorescence. We have tried
1-phenoxy-2-propanol, ethanol and levamisol and have found that
effective doses of these drugs significantly distort the worm's
morphology. Ivermectin is currently our paralytic of choice. Worms
soaked in M9 with 1% DMSO and 100 ng/ml ivermectin for a couple hours
are generally inert without significant morphological distortion apart
from the occasional vacuole. The worms can also be treated by placing
them on ivermectin plates (containing 1% DMSO and 100ng/ml ivermectin)
which takes longer but allows you to look at them to see when they
become paralyzed. Eggs of paralyzed worms can always be recovered and
sometimes adults, when not too far gone, can recover from ivermectin.