Summary
The threshold strength-duration relationships were determined for the phototactic excitation of Rhodospirillum rubrum by various pulses and pairs of pulses of change in light intensity. The recovery of excitability after a response was followed, and examples of rhythmic behavior were recorded.
Exprimental results were found to be in fair agreement with data for other irritable systems and with the predictions of the theories of Rashevsky and Hill.
The hypothesis was considered that all excitable systems might share a common mechanism for irritability, and the phototactic mechanisms of various unicellular organisms were discussed in this connection.
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References
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Clayton, R.K. Studies in the phototaxis of Rhodospirillum rubrum. Archiv. Mikrobiol. 19, 141–165 (1953). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446397
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446397