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Neurotoxicity Of Two Related Organophosphates On Caenorhabditis Elegans, Collin M. Brown

Honors Program Projects

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 …