Abstract Preview Page

This is an automatically generated preview of the abstract you selected.

Mechanosensitivity in a bioluminescent dinoflagellate: role of the actin cytoskeleton Carrie A. McDougall*; C Kuzminski; JF Case Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA      *(mcdougal@lifesci.ucsb.edu) Bioluminescent (BL) dinoflagellates are exquisitely sensitive to mechanical disturbances in the water. Pyrocystis fusiformis, a marine, autotrophic dinoflagellate responds to mechanical stimulation with a 100-ms duration bright flash. The latency between the mechanical stimulus and the flash is on the order of 10 ms. Two possible modes of this activation are 2nd messenger and direct ionic control. H+ are known to trigger the BL reaction as the final step in the transduction process, however, upstream events remain elusive. These cells clearly have an efficient means of sensing physical membrane deformations. The cytoskeleton is a likely component of this rapid mechanotransduction event. Here, we address the role of the actin cytoskeleton in the mechanically triggered flash of P. fusiformis. We describe the sensitivity to mechanical stimulation caused by fluid motion in cells treated with an actin-depolymerizing drug (cytochalasin-D). Total BL capacity (as determined by chemical stimulation) is used to demonstrate that the change in mechanical sensitivity is not due to a change in the capacity for BL. [Talk: mcdougal.carrie.87141]

Return to the list of abstracts

E-mail   |  Conference Info  |   Index of Abstracts