Studies On the Effects of Two Procaine Preparations On Caenorhabditis Briggsae

Abstract

Concentrations below 0.36 mM procaine had no significant effect on several developmental parameters of Caenorhabditis briggsae; growth, fecundity, time of inception of the reproductive period and duration of the reproductive period. In old C. briggsae, significant differences in osmotic fragility occurred to concentrations as low as 0.18 mM. Using cationized ferritin for evaluating membrane negative surface charge, at 33 mM partial lysis of the cuticle surface membrane occurred and negative charge was lost from unlysed areas. At 7.2 mM the negative charge was present in some areas of the membrane but not in others, while at 0.18 mM negative charge density did not differ significantly from that of untreated nematodes. Since the osmotic fragility effect persisted at procaine concentrations which did not affect surface charge, these results suggest two separate modes of action of procaine on membranes.