Adaptation of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to medium high temperature

Action of high temperature (36°C) on the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans organism was manifested in errors of the motor program of swimming induced by a mechanical stimulus (37 ± 2 min), the complete, but reversible cessation of locomotion (57 ± 3 min), while damage—in thermal death (215 ± 5 min). Addition into medium of atropine (10−8–10−9 M) and chemical stimuli (10−8–10−6 cAMP or lysine) causes considerable changes of thermal stability of the worm locomotion. Analysis of these data has shown that the cause of the reversible thermal disturbance of the C. elegans locomotion is disintegration of neurons in the nervous centers regulating behavior. The obtained data indicate the presence in the simple organism of C. elegans of adaptations increasing stability of processes of integration of neurons to a high temperature, which were found earlier in arthropods and vertebrates.