Worm Breeder's Gazette 5(1): 32a

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.

Title unknown.

Authors unknown.

By maintaining C.  elegans on ampicillin treated E.  coli a high 
throughput inexpensive screen for detecting potential anthelmintics is 
obtained.
Method: 5 mg of ampicillin and 1.7 mg nystatin are added to 10 mls 
of E.  coli broth (Uracil requiring mutant) and 100 mls of M9 buffer 
and the mixture stood for 2 hrs.  Multi well plates are filled with 2 
mls of the mixture and substances to be tested are added in the 
minimum volume of water, ethanol or DMSO.  Between 12 and 20 worms of 
mixed age are added per well and after 7 days incubation at 20 C 
experimental wells are compared to controls for numbers of larvae and 
adults and normal movement.
Most benzimidazoles are detected at 1 p.p.m.  with the exceptions of 
oxfendazole (10 p.p.m.) and thiabendazole (2.5 p.p.m.).  Levamisole is 
detected down to 0.5 p.p.m.  and avermectin Bla to 0.0005 p.p.m.  At 
50 p.p.m.  less than 10% of random compounds are active.  Although 
older drugs such as piperazine , bephenium, diethylcarbamazine, 
methyridine and santonin would be missed this is not considered to be 
of significance as modern drugs must be both broadspectrum and very 
active.
The test can also probably be used to detect potential plant 
nematocides.