Septins and a formin have distinct functions in anaphase chiral cortical rotation in the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote

Many cells and tissues exhibit chirality that stems from the chirality of proteins and polymers. In the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, actomyosin contractility drives chiral rotation of the entire cortex circumferentially around the division plane during anaphase. How contractility is translated to cell-scale chirality, and what dictates handedness, are unknown. Septins are candidate contributors to cell-scale chirality because they anchor and cross-link the actomyosin cytoskeleton. We report that septins are required for anaphase cortical rotation. In contrast, the formin CYK-1, which we found to be enriched in the posterior in early anaphase, is not required for cortical rotation but contributes to its chirality. Simultaneous loss of septin and CYK-1 function led to abnormal and often reversed cortical rotation. Our results suggest that anaphase contractility leads to chiral rotation by releasing torsional stress generated during formin-based polymerization, which is polarized along the cell anterior–posterior axis and which accumulates due to actomyosin network connectivity. Our findings shed light on the molecular and physical bases for cellular chirality in the C. elegans zygote. We also identify conditions in which chiral rotation fails but animals are developmentally viable, opening avenues for future work on the relationship between early embryonic cellular chirality and animal body plan.     

Phycomyces: MODIFICATION OF LIGHT-INDUCED SPIRAL GROWTH AFTER MECHANICAL CONDITIONING OF THE CELL WALL

Mature stage IVb Phycomyces sporangiophores show left-hand spiral growth; that is, viewed from above, the sporangium rotates clockwise. It has been shown that mechanical conditioning (strain-hardening) of the cell wall by the Instron technique increases the ratio of rotation to the elongation growth rate compared to nonmechanically conditioned controls. It is reported that the addition of a saturating light stimulus to these sporangiophores causes a decrease in the ratio of rotation to elongation growth rate. This result is in agreement with the fibril slippage model, i.e. the counterclockwise rotation of stage IVa is a result of parallel fibrils lying in a right-handed spiral configuration slipping by one another. It is suggested that a light stimulus added to a mechanically conditioned stage IVb sporangiophore activates one or more cell wall-loosening enzymes which act by decreasing the number of intermolecular bonds between parallel fibrils causing fibril slippage, resulting in counterclockwise rotation. It is precisely this counterclockwise contribution that decreases the rotation to elongation growth ratio of mechanically conditioned and then light-stimulated stage IVb sporangiophores.     

Artificial Polychromatic Light Affects Growth and Physiology in Chicks

Despite the overwhelming use of artificial light on captive animals, its effect on those animals has rarely been studied experimentally. Housing animals in controlled light conditions is useful for assessing the effects of light. The chicken is one of the best-studied animals in artificial light experiments, and here, we evaluate the effect of polychromatic light with various green and blue components on the growth and physiology in chicks. The results indicate that green-blue dual light has two side-effects on chick body mass, depending on the various green to blue ratios. Green-blue dual light with depleted and medium blue component decreased body mass, whereas enriched blue component promoted body mass in chicks compared with monochromatic green- or blue spectra-treated chicks. Moreover, progressive changes in the green to blue ratios of green-blue dual light could give rise to consistent progressive changes in body mass, as suggested by polychromatic light with higher blue component resulting in higher body mass. Correlation analysis confirmed that food intake was positively correlated with final body mass in chicks (R² = 0.7664, P = 0.0001), suggesting that increased food intake contributed to the increased body mass in chicks exposed to higher blue component. We also found that chicks exposed to higher blue component exhibited higher blood glucose levels. Furthermore, the glucose level was positively related to the final body mass (R² = 0.6406, P = 0.0001) and food intake (R² = 0.784, P = 0.0001). These results demonstrate that spectral composition plays a crucial role in affecting growth and physiology in chicks. Moreover, consistent changes in spectral components might cause the synchronous response of growth and physiology.     

Pavlovian conditioning-specific increases of the Ca2+- and GTP-binding protein,calexcitin in identified Hermissenda visual cells

Hermissenda CNS, immunolabeled for the memory protein calexcitin showed significant immunostaining over background in the B-photoreceptor cells of the eye. The degree of staining correlated positively with the number of Pavlovian training events experienced by the animals and the degree of Pavlovian conditioning induced. The training regime consisted of exposing animals to light (conditioned stimulus, CS) paired with orbital rotation (unconditioned stimulus, US). In animals that exhibited the conditioned response, calexcitin immunolabeling was more intense than was found for naive (unconditioned) animals or animals given the CS and US in random sequence. Animals exposed to lead (maintained in 1.2 ppm lead acetate) at a dosage known to impair learning in children, showed reduced learning and less intense calexcitin staining whether the CS and US were paired or given randomly. However, the levels were still higher than that of naive animals. Immuno-electron microscopy indicated that the labeling was predominantly within calcium sequestering organelles such as the endoplasmic reticulum, and to lesser extent within mitochondria, and photopigments. The calexcitin density after a short-term memory (STM) regime was the same whether measured 5 minutes after conditioning (when STM was evidenced by foot contraction) or 90 minutes later when no recall was detected. The staining density was also similar to the levels found 5 minutes after long-term memory (LTM) conditioning. However, the LTM regime produced a greater calexcitin intensity at 90 minutes when the memory had been consolidated. This learning-specific increase in calexcitin is consistent with the previously implicated sequence of molecular events that are associated with progressively longer time domains of memory storage.     

A unique form of light reflector and the evolution of signalling in Ovalipes (Crustacea: Decapoda: Portunidae)

The first demonstration, to our knowledge, of an evolutionary shift in communication mode in animals is presented. Some species of Ovalipes display spectacular iridescence resulting from multilayer reflectors in the cuticle. This reflector is unique in animals because each layer is corrugated and slightly out of phase with adjacent layers. Solid layers are separated from fluid layers in the reflector by side branches acting as support struts. An effect of this reflector is that blue light is reflected over a ''broad'' angle around a plane parallel to the sea floor when the host crab is resting. Species of Ovalipes all possess stridulatory structures. The shallow-water species with the best developed stridulatory structures are non-iridescent and use sound as a signal. Deep-water species possess poorly developed stridulatory structures and display iridescence from most regions of the body. In deep water, where incident light is blue, light display is highly directional in contrast to sound produced via stridulation. Sound and light display probably perform the same function of sexual signalling in Ovalipes, although the directional signal is less likely to attract predators. Deep-water species of Ovalipes appear to have evolved towards using light in conspecific signalling. This change from using sound to using light reflects the change in habitat light properties, perhaps the hunting mechanisms of cohabitees, and its progression is an indicator of phylogeny. The changes in sexual signalling mechanisms, following spatial–geographical isolation, may have promoted speciation in Ovalipes.     

Die lichtabhängige Besiedlung von Hafenstützpfeilern durch sessile Tiere und Algen aus dem Korallenriff bei Eilat (Rotes Meer)

The influence of light on coral reef communities has been studied in the merchant harbour of Eilat (Red Sea), where other parameters of the local ecosystem remain relatively constant. The harbour pier is supported over a length of about 550 m by eight rows of concrete pillars. Water current is parallel to the pillar rows. Benthic animals and algae settle on the pillars, between the sun-exposed first and the extremely shadowy eighth row, according to the light gradient (about 13 – 0.1% of the light intensity above the surface). The observations were carried out from January, 1970 to March, 1971. In the most common species (28 animals and five algae), four settlement zones can be distinguished: (a) “bright zone” (13 – 3% of the light intensity measured above the water surface) withTridacna maxima, T. squamosa andPadina pavonia and some stone corals as indicators; (b) “dim-light zone, bright” (3 – 1%) withSiphonochalina siphonella andDendronephthya species as indicators; (c) “dim-light zone, dark” (1 – 0.4%) withAcabaria biserialis andClathraria rubrinodis as indicators; (d) “dark zone” (0.4 – 0.1%) with violetLithothamnion andLithophyllum species as indicators. The distribution of animals in the horizontal light gradient (rows 1–8) corresponds to that in the vertical light gradient in coral reefs; this has been verified by SCUBA diving to 40 m depth near Eilat, Dahab, and Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai coast, and Aqaba on the Jordanian coast of the Gulf. Light intensity is the dominant ecological factor which affects the distribution of the majority of species in the reef.     

THE PHOTOCHEMICAL BASIS OF ANIMAL HELIOTROPISM

1. Experiments on the heliotropic orientation of Limulus were made which confirmed Loeb''s photochemical theory of animal heliotropism proposed first in 1888 and 1889 in experiments on insects, and later in experiments on other forms of animals. 2. It is shown that these animals are oriented by light in such a way that the product I x t x cos α is the same for the symmetrical photosensitive elements of the eyes or the skin, where I is the intensity of the light, t the duration of illumination, and α the angle of incidence of the light at the surface element of the photosensitive organ. 3. When this equation holds, the products of decomposition by light must be the same in symmetrical elements of the eyes or skin, and the influence of these products of decomposition on the tension of symmetrical muscles of the locomotor organs of the animal must be the same. As a consequence the animal must move in the path of light, either to or from the source of light.     

SENSORY ADAPTATION AND THE STATIONARY STATE

1. Experiments are described which measure the sensitivity of animals exposed to continued illumination to which they have become adapted. It is shown that the amount of outside light energy necessary to stimulate an adapted animal increases with the intensity of the adapting illumination. 2. The data are analyzed quantitatively in terms of the reversible reaction S ⇌ P + A shown previously to account for the photic sensitivity of these animals. This analysis demonstrates that, though the amount of incident energy necessary for a minimal response varies with the adapting intensity, the actual amount of photochemical decomposition required to set off the sensory mechanism is a constant quantity. 3. The ability of these animals to come into sensory equilibrium with any sustained illumination is accounted for quantitatively by the presence of a stationary state in the reversible photochemical reaction S ⇌ P + A during which the concentrations of the three components are constant. 4. It is shown that the concentrations of these substances at the stationary state are automatically controlled by the outside intensity. Therefore, given the sensory mechanism as a basis, the adaptation of the animals to light and the consequent changes in sensitivity, are determined entirely by the light to which the animals are exposed. 5. Because of the properties of the stationary state, and of the constancy of photochemical decomposition for a minimal effect, it is suggested that the sensory system is not only the traditional receptor system, but is also a protecting layer which stabilizes and buffers the relation between the nervous system and the environment.     

Acclimation to temperature in Actinia equina L.: Effects of season and shore level on aquatic oxygen consumption

Effect of seasonal and experimental acclimation to temperature upon aquatic oxygen consumption of the sea anemone Actinia equina L. has been studied in animals from two shore levels during the summer of 1981 and the winter of 1982. A clear influence of both season and shore level on the weight exponent is registered, higher values occurring during the summer. Seasonally acclimated animals from the upper shore showed perfect winter-summer compensation with lateral translation to the right of the R-T curve in response to warm acclimation while this pattern was coupled with clockwise rotation and partial compensation in specimens collected from the low shore. Experimental acclimation during the summer resulted in partial compensation at T_a 15°C and no acclimation was found at T_a 25°C; during the winter, only high shore specimens exhibited compensatory responses. A significant increase in oxygen consumption, regardless of shore level, occurs in winter in both seasonally and experimentally acclimated animals.     

Modeling light adaptation in circadian clock: prediction of the response that stabilizes entrainment

Periods of biological clocks are close to but often different from the rotation period of the earth. Thus, the clocks of organisms must be adjusted to synchronize with day-night cycles. The primary signal that adjusts the clocks is light. In Neurospora, light transiently up-regulates the expression of specific clock genes. This molecular response to light is called light adaptation. Does light adaptation occur in other organisms? Using published experimental data, we first estimated the time course of the up-regulation rate of gene expression by light. Intriguingly, the estimated up-regulation rate was transient during light period in mice as well as Neurospora. Next, we constructed a computational model to consider how light adaptation had an effect on the entrainment of circadian oscillation to 24-h light-dark cycles. We found that cellular oscillations are more likely to be destabilized without light adaption especially when light intensity is very high. From the present results, we predict that the instability of circadian oscillations under 24-h light-dark cycles can be experimentally observed if light adaptation is altered. We conclude that the functional consequence of light adaptation is to increase the adjustability to 24-h light-dark cycles and then adapt to fluctuating environments in nature.     

Productivity and organic consumption in Cassiopea and Condylactus

Oxygen production and consumption was determined for Cassiopea and Condylactus containing symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae). 88 % of both animals produce more organic material than they consumed during a 12-h light period.It is suggested that zooxanthellae contribute a significant nutritional supplementation and a greater ecological efficiency to the host animals.     

Light-dependent orientation responses in animals can be explained by a model of compass cue integration

The magnetic compass sense of animals is currently thought to be based on light-dependent processes like the proposed radical pair mechanism. In accordance, many animals show orientation responses that depend on light. However, the orientation responses depend on the wavelength and irradiance of monochromatic light in rather complex ways that cannot be explained directly by the radical pair mechanism. Here, a radically different model is presented that can explain a vast majority of the complex observed light-dependent responses. The model put forward an integration process consisting of simple lateral inhibition between a normal functioning, light-independent magnetic compass (e.g. magnetite based) and a vision based skylight color gradient compass that misperceives compass cues in monochromatic light. Integration of the misperceived color compass cue and the normal magnetic compass not only explains most of the categorically different light-dependent orientation responses, but also shows a surprisingly good fit to how well the animals are oriented (r-values) under light of different wavelength and irradiance. The model parsimoniously suggests the existence of a single magnetic sense in birds (probably based on magnetic crystals).     

Three-dimensional vestibular eye and head reflexes of the chameleon: characteristics of gain and phase and effects of eye position on orientation of ocular rotation axes during stimulation in yaw direction

We investigated gaze-stabilizing reflexes in the chameleon using the three-dimensional search-coil technique. Animals were rotated sinusoidally around an earth-vertical axis under head-fixed and head-free conditions, in the dark and in the light. Gain, phase and the influence of eye position on vestibulo-ocular reflex rotation axes were studied. During head-restrained stimulation in the dark, vestibulo-ocular reflex gaze gains were low (0.1-0.3) and phase lead decreased with increasing frequencies (from 100 degrees at 0.04 Hz to < 30 degrees at 1 Hz). Gaze gains were larger during stimulation in the light (0.1-0.8) with a smaller phase lead (< 30 degrees) and were close to unity during the head-free conditions (around 0.6 in the dark, around 0.8 in the light) with small phase leads. These results confirm earlier findings that chameleons have a low vestibulo-ocular reflex gain during head-fixed conditions and stimulation in the dark and higher gains during head-free stimulation in the light. Vestibulo-ocular reflex eye rotation axes were roughly aligned with the head's rotation axis and did not systematically tilt when the animals were looking eccentrically, up- or downward (as predicted by Listing's Law). Therefore, vestibulo-ocular reflex responses in the chameleon follow a strategy, which optimally stabilizes the entire retinal images, a result previously found in non-human primates.     

Light-induced changes in frog pineal gland N-acetyltransferase activity

N-Acetyltransferase (NAT) activity was determined in the pineal gland of frogs (Rana tigrina) of different ages using 2-aminofluorene and p-aminobenzoic acid as substrates, and assayed by high-pressure liquid chromatography. Frogs of different ages were either killed during the light phase or exposed to darkness or light for 1 min during the dark phase of the lighting cycle, then returned to their cages in darkness for 30 min before being killed. The pineal gland NAT activity of 1-month-old frogs was inhibited when the animal was nocturnally exposed to 1 min of light. Nocturnal light exposure did not inhibit NAT activity in 1-month-old frogs, even though these animal displayed clear light-dark differences in pineal gland NAT activity. Nocturnal light exposure did not inhibit night-time levels of NAT activity in 1-month-old animals which had been bilaterally enucleated, thus suggesting that this effect is retinally mediated. Pretreatment of 1-month-old and 6-month-old animals with isoproterenol (a beta-adrenoceptor agonist drug) prevented the nocturnal light-induced inhibition of NAT activity. From the different sensitivity of 1-month-old and 6-month-old animals to different intensities or durations of nocturnal light exposure it was found that the duration or intensity of light exposure was not able to inhibit nocturnal NAT activity. The NAT activity was at least 4–5-fold greater in 1-month-old frogs than in 6-month-old frogs. This is the first demonstration of the retino-pineal gland pathway that appears to produce light-induced changes in pineal glands of frogs 1-month-old or older, but this pathway only functions in 1-month-old frogs, and does not appear to function in 6-month-old frogs.     

Vibrot,a Simple Device for the Conversion of Vibration into Rotation Mediated by Friction: Preliminary Evaluation

While “vibrational noise” induced by rotating components of machinery is a common problem constantly faced by engineers, the controlled conversion of translational into rotational motion or vice-versa is a desirable goal in many scenarios ranging from internal combustion engines to ultrasonic motors. In this work, we describe the underlying physics after isolating a single degree of freedom, focusing on devices that convert a vibration along the vertical axis into a rotation around this axis. A typical Vibrot (as we label these devices) consists of a rigid body with three or more cantilevered elastic legs attached to its bottom at an angle. We show that these legs are capable of transforming vibration into rotation by a “ratchet effect”, which is caused by the anisotropic stick-slip-flight motion of the leg tips against the ground. Drawing an analogy with the Froude number used to classify the locomotion dynamics of legged animals, we discuss the walking regime of these robots. We are able to control the rotation frequency of the Vibrot by manipulating the shaking amplitude, frequency or waveform. Furthermore, we have been able to excite Vibrots with acoustic waves, which allows speculating about the possibility of reducing the size of the devices so they can perform tasks into the human body, excited by ultrasound waves from the outside.     

Effect of photoperiod and cold acclimation on survival of mice in cold

Male albino mice (Swiss-Webster) were raised at 5 °C under short (8L:16D) and long (16L:8D) light periods. All mice were housed in groups of three to five individuals in plastic mouse cages (16 × 12 × 28 cm) until 42 days of age with food and water ad libitum and cold exposed to ?40 °C between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm to determine survival time or time until loss of righting response occurred (CT min). Under short photo-periods, survival time was 49.3 ± 4.4 min and under long photoperiods it was 38.7 ± 1.9 min (P < 0.05). A second group of mice was maintained from birth at thermoneutral temperature (22 °C) under constant darkness, short day lengths (4L:20D), or constant light in the same fashion as mentioned above. When exposed to ?20 °C survival time was found to be 80.0 ± 5.0 min for the animals kept in constant darkness, 61.1 ± 2.3 min for animals raised in short photo-periods (4L:20D) (P < 0.01), and 52.4 ± 2.3 min for mice raised in constant light (P < 0.05). After 30 min mean rectal temperature was 32.1 ± 0.47 °C for constant-darkness animals, 30.5 ± 0.43 °C for short-day animals (P < 0.02), and 28.5 ± 0.74 °C for animals raised in constant light (P < 0.05). After 60 min mean rectal temperatures for constant-dark, 4L:20D, and constant-light animals were compared and body temperature was found to be 23.7 ± 1.6, 17.3 ± 1.5 (P < 0.01), and 12.8 ± 0.87 °C (P < 0.05), respectively. From these data, it is obvious that photoperiod influences cold resistance at both cold and thermoneutral acclimation temperatures although when considered individually, cold acclimation enhances cold survival to a greater degree than does reduced light exposure.     

Nutrient availability for zooxanthellae derived from physiological activities of Condylactus spp

Differences in phosphate metabolism of symbiotic and aposymbiotic Condylactus suggest that the host animal makes available quantities of phosphate to support growth of zooxanthellae. Nitrite may serve as a nitrogen source for symbionts as indicated by host removal of nitrite from sea water.The presence of zooxanthellae is responsible for removal of phosphate from sea water in the dark whereas there is excretion during light periods. There is a greater uptake of nitrite from sea water in the light compared with the dark in symbiotic animals.Since nitrate is removed from sea water by aposymbiotic animals, the presence of nitrate reducing bacteria is proposed.     

Zeitgebers for animals in the continuous daylight of high arctic summer

Summary To find out which of daily oscillating environmental factors in the continuous daylight of arctic summer are responsable for synchronization of animal activity period with the rotation of the earth, in Spitsbergen (78° N) a whole summer continuous measurements of temperature (°C), light intensity (lux) and spectral composition of the light (colour temperature in °K) were done. With a daily amplitude of 4–5° C in the air, resp. 10° C at the ground surface, temperature can only act as a Zeitgeber for heterothermic animals. Measurements of light intensity (with a photocell directed vertical upward to the zenith) showed relatively large daily oscillations. But since light intensity depends on the cosine of the angle of incidence of the light (Lambert's cosine law) and in high latitudes the angle of incidence of the sun is always very great, in fact measurements have to be done with the photocell directed to the sun or, as the latter meets with mechanical problems, all dates got with the photocell vertical upward must be converted after Lambert's cosine law. Converted dates of light intensity oscillate not nearly as intense as measured dates. This small daily amplitude of light intensity, which in addition is strongly influenced by sudden changes of the wheather, can hardly come into consideration as a Zeitgeber of animal activity period. Colour temperature however showed large and regular daily oscillations and therefore could be a Zeitgeber of animal activity period in high arctic summer, particularly because in the laboratory the synchroniing effect of an artificial daily alternation of colour temperature is already proved. Nest (feeding) activity of local snowbuntings and perch hopping activity of greenfinches, brought from Germany, were registrated with light traps. Activity period of both bird species was clearly synchronized with the rotation of the earth. In a narrow valley the activity pattern of greenfinches was identical as in open country, in spite of temporarily total other conditions of light intensity (shading by mountains). Apparently even the activity period of non arctic animals can be synchronized by weak Zeitgebers like colour temperature.     

Formation of the function of the photosensing system in early development

The function of simple eyes in two planarian species, two-eyed Girardia tigrina and multi-eyed Polycelis tenuis, has been studied. When exposed to light, planarians display a light avoidance reaction known as negative phototaxis. This reaction has been investigated in intact animals and in head and tail fragments in the course of eye regeneration after their section. Specific features of the phototaxis reaction have been described in all groups of animals. The differences in light response recovery were shown between two planarian species and two regenerating fragments. No correlation has been found between phototactic reactions and restoration of eye structure, the number of eyes, maturation of the ganglion, growth of regenerative blastema, and motor system. The phototactic response occurred two days after the recovery of the morphology of eyes and their connection with the brain. The participation of conserved and novel genes in early development of the eye function is discussed.     

Oxygen consumption by the bivalve Donax vittatus (da Costa)

The acute oxygen consumption of Donax vittatus (da Costa) freshly collected at different times from a beach at Barrassie, Ayrshire, Scotland, has been measured at different temperatures. The logarithmic relationship between oxygen consumption and body weight showed a significant difference on only one occasion, and a common regression coefficient (b) of 0.865 could be used for regressions of oxygen consumption on weight. Over the temperature range 2.9–20 °C oxygen consumption rose with temperature. There was a linear decline of Q₁₀ with temperature in the range 2.9 –20 °C. Differences in values of the constant (a) in the regression equation suggest that there is some acclimation to temperature, resulting in rotation of the rate/temperature curve counterclockwise for warm-acclimated animals, and a reduction of Q₁₀ in cold-acclimated animals. The differences in oxygen consumption which result are small and appear to have little practical significance. High levels of metabolically-inactive materials such as stored glycogen reserves lead to a reduction in the weight-specific oxygen consumption. Spawning animals show an increased oxygen consumption.