Abstract
THE nature of the primary processes in the photoreceptor and the mechanism of their coupling with the mechanical response of the flagella are the most important and, at the same time, the least investigated problems of the phototaxis in flagellates1–5. It has been suggested that the transduction of the light stimulus in phototaxis might involve bioelectric processes4,6–9, but no direct experimental evidence supports this hypothesis. The bioelectric control of the locomotor responses to light10,11, mechanical12 or electrical13 stimulation has been found in ciliates, but they do not possess the orientated phototactic response mechanism14 of flagellates. Now we demonstrate the photoinduction of electric potentials related to phototaxis in the unicellular flagellated alga Haematococcus pluvialis. Photo-stimulation evokes a graded receptor potential which gives rise to a regenerative potential dependent on the presence of extra-cellular calcium ions.
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LITVIN, F., SINESHCHEKOV, O. & SINESHCHEKOV, V. Photoreceptor electric potential in the phototaxis of the alga Haematococcus pluvialis. Nature 271, 476–478 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1038/271476a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/271476a0
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