A PHENOMENOLOGICAL MODEL DESCRIBING PHARYNGEAL PULSING IN THE NEMATODE CAENORHABDITIS-ELEGANS ANESTHETIZED BY ALCOHOL

The recovery process of the suppressed pharyngeal pulsation in the nem atode has been investigated for several concentrations of a homologous primary alcohol series (CnH2n-1OH, n=1, 2, 3). A mathematical model d escribing the time course of the recovery process is phenomenologicall y constructed by using two time constants of delay time t(D) and recov ery time tau. The values of t(D) and tau are obtained by fitting the e quation to experimental data The obtained values increase with increas ing alcohol concentration. To observe the characteristics of t(D) and tau against the alcohol of order n, the inverse of these time constant s are computed at 25 v/v% concentration and plotted on a semi-logarith mic scale. The plot curves decrease non-linearly and are dissimilar to the well-known curves illustrating the importance of lipid solubility in the cell membrane in anesthetic phenomena.