TOBACCO

Tests to Observe the Behavioural Effects of AcetylCholine and related Chemical messengers On worms (TOBACCO) is a research project within SWIRL which is investigating the cholinergic system within Lumbriculus variegatus. Nicotine acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) and we have previously demonstrated the concentration-dependent effects of the cholinergic agonists acetylcholine and nicotine (Carriere et al., 2022). 

TOBACCO aims to examine the behavioural effects of cholinergic drugs in L. variegatus and investigate the presence or absence of a cholinergic system in this species.

The current findings from this study to date are available from our 2025 publication, in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, entitled "The inhibitory effect of nicotine on Lumbriculus variegatus stereotypical movements and locomotor activity"