Abstract
The effect of the ionophores A-23187 and Gramicidin and of the lipophilic cation triphenylmethyl phosphonium-ion (TPMP+) on four photoresponses in Dictyostelium discoideum have been studied.
None of the chemicals used effects phototaxis in pseudoplasmodia, but all impair pseudoplasmodial migration. The photo-inhibition of aggregation is not reversed by any of the three inhibitors.
The inonophores specifically inhibit accumulations of amoebae in low intensity light traps, but do not affect photodispersal from high light fields. TPMP+ has the opposite effect. At intermediate light intensities, inversions of responses can be induced, indicating an overlap of the intensity ranges of these two photo-effects.
Thus, photoaccumulation, photodispersal, and photoinhibition of aggregation, which may share a common photoreceptor pigment, can be separated based on the effects of different inhibitors. The differential inhibition is thought to result from different mechanisms for stimulus transfer from photoreceptor pigment to the effector apparatus for the three light responses. All three chemicals inhibit movement of pseudoplasmodia specifically, but do not impair amoebal movement, indicating a different mechanism of locomotion of amoebae and pseudoplasmodia.
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Abbreviations
- TPMP+ :
-
triphenylmethyl phosphonium-ion
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Häder, DP., Poff, K.L. Effects of ionophores and TPMP+ on light-induced responses in Dictyostelium discoideum . Arch. Microbiol. 126, 97–101 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421897
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00421897