Identification of Active Membrane Areas in the Giant Neuron of Aplysia

Intracellular and extracellular potentials were simultaneously recorded from the soma and different parts of the axon of the giant cell of Aplysia. Evidence was obtained that for all modes of stimulation the spike originates in the axon at some distance from the cell body. The conduction of the spike is blocked at a distance of 200 to 300 µ from the soma for the antidromic spike, closer to the soma for an orthodromic spike. This event is recorded in the soma as a small or A spike. After some delay, a spike is initiated in the resting part of the axon and in the axon hillock; the soma is invaded only afterwards. The response of these three parts of the neuron is recorded in the soma as the big or S spike.     

Site of Origin and Propagation of Spike in the Giant Neuron of Aplysia

The form and time sequence of spikes generated by orthodromic, antidromic, and direct stimulation and during spontaneous activity have been studied with intracellular electrodes simultaneously introduced in the soma and in different parts of the axon of the giant nerve cell of Aplysia. Evidence was obtained that under normal conditions of excitability, the spike originates at some distance from the soma in an axonal region with a higher excitability surpassing that of the surrounding membranes. Between the trigger zone and the soma is situated a region of transitional excitability where the conduction of the spike towards the soma may be blocked at a functionally determined and variable locus. The cell body is electrically excitable, but has the highest threshold of all parts of the neuron. The inactivation or even the removal of the cell body does not suppress synaptic transmission.     

Decreased Response to Acetylcholine during Aging of Aplysia Neuron R15

How aging affects the communication between neurons is poorly understood. To address this question, we have studied the electrophysiological properties of identified neuron R15 of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica. R15 is a bursting neuron in the abdominal ganglia of the central nervous system and is implicated in reproduction, water balance, and heart function. Exposure to acetylcholine (ACh) causes an increase in R15 burst firing. Whole-cell recordings of R15 in the intact ganglia dissected from mature and old Aplysia showed specific changes in burst firing and properties of action potentials induced by ACh. We found that while there were no significant changes in resting membrane potential and latency in response to ACh, the burst number and burst duration is altered during aging. The action potential waveform analysis showed that unlike mature neurons, the duration of depolarization and the repolarization amplitude and duration did not change in old neurons in response to ACh. Furthermore, single neuron quantitative analysis of acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) suggested alteration of expression of specific AChRs in R15 neurons during aging. These results suggest a defect in cholinergic transmission during aging of the R15 neuron.     

Calcium-Activated Proteolysis of Neurofilament Proteins in the Squid Giant Neuron

The phosphorylation and proteolysis of squid neurofilament proteins by endogenous kinase and calcium-activated protease activities, respectively, were studied. When axoplasm was incubated in the presence of [gamma-32P]ATP, most of the phosphate was incorporated into two neurofilament proteins: a 220-kilodalton (NF-220) and a high-molecular-weight (HMW) protein. When this phosphorylated axoplasm was subjected to endogenous calcium-activated proteolysis, two significant phosphorylated fragments were generated, i.e., a soluble 110K fragment and a pelletable 100K fragment. Immunochemical and other analyses suggest that the pelletable 100K fragment contains the common helical neurofilament rod region and that the soluble 110K protein is the putative side arm of the NF-220. In contrast, neither the HMW or the NF-220 was detected in the region of the stellate ganglion which contains the cell bodies of the giant axon. However, this region did contain a number of proteins that were sensitive to calcium-activated proteolysis and reacted with a monoclonal intermediate filament antibody. This intermediate filament antibody reacts with most of the axoplasmic proteins that copurify with neurofilaments, i.e., in the order of their intermediate filament antibody staining intensity, a 60K, 65K, 220K, and 74K protein. In the cell body preparation, the intermediate filament antibody labeled, in order of their staining intensity, a 65K, 60K, 74K, and 180K protein. In both the axoplasmic and cell body preparations, endogenous calcium-activated proteolysis generated characteristic fragments that could be labeled with the anti-intermediate filament antibody.     

Structured Odorant Response Patterns across a Complete Olfactory Receptor Neuron Population

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Light and serotonin interact in affecting the circadian system of Aplysia

Summary The eye of the marine mollusk Aplysia californica contains a photo-entrainable circadian pacemaker that drives an overt rhythm of spontaneous compound action potentials. The current study evaluated the influence of serotonin on light-induced phase shifts of this ocular rhythm. The application of serotonin in combination with light was found to have profound and interactive effects on the magnitude of the resulting phase shifts. Further, the phase shifts that resulted from the interaction between light and serotonin appeared to be phase dependent, i.e., the application of serotonin inhibited the phase shifting effects of light during one part of the circadian cycle but enhanced them during another. Finally, the results show that the interaction between light and serotonin is dependent upon the sequence in which these two treatments are paired. These data, coupled with previous findings, suggest that serotonin may act to modulate light's phase shifting effects on the ocular pacemaker in Aplysia.Abbreviations CAP compound action potential - ASW artificial sea water - CT circadian time - 5-HT serotonin     

Dorsiventrality in Photosynthetic Light Response Curves of a Leaf

Terashima, I. 1986. Dorsiventrality in photosynthetic lightresponse curves of a leaf.—J. cxp. Bot. 37 399–405 The photosynthetic light response curve of a leaf of Glycinemax (L.) Merrill obtained by illuminating the adaxial side layabove that obtained by illuminating the abaxial side. However,after inverting the leaf for 11 d, the curve obtained by illuminatingthe abax.ial side came to lie slightly above that obtained byilluminating the adaxial side. The difference in the shape oflight response curves is satisfactorily explained only whenthe intra-leaf heterogeneities in light absorption and in photosyntheticactivity are taken into account. Key words: Photosynthetic rate, direction of illumination     

Transient Response in a Dendritic Neuron Model for Current Injected at One Branch

Mathematical expressions are obtained for the response function corresponding to an instantaneous pulse of current injected to a single dendritic branch in a branched dendritic neuron model. The theoretical model assumes passive membrane properties and the equivalent cylinder constraint on branch diameters. The response function when used in a convolution formula enables one to compute the voltage transient at any specified point in the dendritic tree for an arbitrary current injection at a given input location. A particular numerical example, for a brief current injection at a branch terminal, illustrates the attenuation and delay characteristics of the depolarization peak as it spreads throughout the neuron model. In contrast to the severe attenuation of voltage transients from branch input sites to the soma, the fraction of total input charge actually delivered to the soma and other trees is calculated to be about one-half. This fraction is independent of the input time course. Other numerical examples, which compare a branch terminal input site with a soma input site, demonstrate that, for a given transient current injection, the peak depolarization is not proportional to the input resistance at the injection site and, for a given synaptic conductance transient, the effective synaptic driving potential can be significantly reduced, resulting in less synaptic current flow and charge, for a branch input site. Also, for the synaptic case, the two inputs are compared on the basis of the excitatory post-synaptic potential (EPSP) seen at the soma and the total charge delivered to the soma.     

The Light Growth Response of Phycomyces

With the help of an automated tracking system we have studied the characteristics of the transient light growth response of Phycomyces. The response shows a sharply defined latency. The Q₁₀ of the reciprocal latency is 2.4. Response patterns at different peaks of the action spectrum are the same. The gradual variation of response magnitude over a wide range of adapted intensifies parallels that of phototropism. The responses to saturating stimuli exhibit a strong oscillation with a constant period of 1.6 min and variable damping. The growth responses to sinusoidally varying light intensities show a system bandwidth of 2.5 x 10^-3 Hz. The linear dependence of phase shift on frequency is largely attributable to the latency observed with pulse stimuli. In the high intensity range a previously suspected increase of the steady-state growth rate with intensity has been confirmed. The light growth responses of mutants selected for diminished phototropism have been investigated. Many of these mutants have sizable but grossly distorted growth responses.     

Menstrual Phase Response to Nocturnal Light

The aims of the study were to test whether nocturnal white light can normalize menstrual cycles in oligomenorrheic women, and whether the phase of the menstrual cycle in which light is given is important for the shortening effect. Twenty-five women with long menstrual cycles (35.9–53.4 days on average) were treated for 1–3 cycles, each of which was preceded and followed by at least two untreated cycles. Treatments were 100 watt bedside lights administered for 5 consecutive nights. They centered at three different phases of the menstrual cycle: 6–7th, 14–17th or 23–25th days of the treated cycle (early, middle or late treatment, respectively). On average, the treatment cycle lengths were modestly, but significantly reduced compared to the duration of baseline cycles (more than 11 %). The difference in the effects of the early, middle and late treatment was not significant. However, if middle or late treatments were administered in the latter half of the interval between the menstrual cycle onset and probable time of ovulation, reductions of the treated cycle length were substantial (more than 20 %, resulting in cycles less than 33 days on average; p < 0.001). Other treatments produced only weak (up to 7 %), if any, cycle reductions. Moreover, we found a strong correlation (p < 0.001) between the duration of baseline cycle and differential effect of middle treatment (compared to early or late treatment). Middle treatments reduced treated cycle duration to the normal range in the subjects with shorter mean baseline cycles (<42 days), while in the subjects with longer duration of baseline cycle the shortening effect was produced by late treatments (p = 0.005 and p = 0.001, respectively). The results support the suggestion that a bedside lamp used on nights prior to ovulation can cause reduction of long menstrual cycles.     

Response of Photosynthesis Models to Light Limitation

An investigation into the effect of time step on a common photosynthesis algorithm reveals that the predicted phytoplankton production and biomass depend strongly on the length of the time step. This time step dependence is due to the assumption that a light limitation factor derived from integrating the irradiance over the time step is equivalent to the integrated light limitation factor over the time step. This subtle inaccuracy in defining the factor for light limited phytoplankton production produces a substantial difference in the biomass estimates derived from the two models. To illustrate the difference, the light limitation factor integrated over the time step is implemented in the one dimensional water quality model DYRESM-WQ. The new version of DYRESM-WQ is used to simulate chlorophyll N concentrations in Prospect Reservoir, New South Wales. These results are compared to concentrations predicted using the original algorithm. The comparison shows that the new algorithm for phytoplankton production is relatively insensitive to time step, which decreases the difficulty of calibrating the model for chlorophyll a.     

细菌视紫红质对调制光的响应特性

细菌视紫红质在结构上与视紫红质的相似性使其具有某些视觉响应特性.用电泳法在不锈钢电极上沉积出定向紫膜薄膜,构成不锈钢/紫膜/凝胶/铜电极结构的光接收器.在调制光作用下,光接收器显示出对光强变化的微分响应特性.测量了光电压随调制频率和入射光功率的变化关系.比较和讨论了细菌视紫红质对调制光响应特性与视觉频闪及明暗感的相关性.     

The Response of Petioles of Glechoma hederacea to a Dynamic Light Climate

Abstract: In herbaceous vegetation patterns of light distribution may change over time. Prostrate plants growing in such a dynamic light environment may benefit from petioles that respond plastically to changing light conditions. In an experiment, the response of petioles of Glechoma hederacea to changing light conditions was analyzed. Treatments included continuous shade, continuous high light, a shift from shade to high light and from high light to shade when the plants had formed 10 ramets. In all four treatments, even petioles that had apparently ceased growing, were still able to elongate slightly but the extent of elongation decreased with the age of the petiole. In the oldest petioles relative extension rates were higher in shade than in high light. In plants that were exposed to full daylight in the second half of the experiment, even newly formed petioles were longer than those in plants that grew in full daylight continuously though they had elongated over a shorter period. In plants that were shaded in the second half of the experiment, only the youngest 4 to 5 petioles reached lengths similar to that in continuous shade. This mechanism may enable plants to keep young (productive) leaves in the upper layers of the canopy while other less productive leaves remain at lower levels of the vegetation.     

Visible Light Induces Melanogenesis in Human Skin through a Photoadaptive Response

Visible light (400–700 nm) lies outside of the spectral range of what photobiologists define as deleterious radiation and as a result few studies have studied the effects of visible light range of wavelengths on skin. This oversight is important considering that during outdoors activities skin is exposed to the full solar spectrum, including visible light, and to multiple exposures at different times and doses. Although the contribution of the UV component of sunlight to skin damage has been established, few studies have examined the effects of non-UV solar radiation on skin physiology in terms of inflammation, and limited information is available regarding the role of visible light on pigmentation. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of visible light on the pro-pigmentation pathways and melanin formation in skin. Exposure to visible light in ex-vivo and clinical studies demonstrated an induction of pigmentation in skin by visible light. Results showed that a single exposure to visible light induced very little pigmentation whereas multiple exposures with visible light resulted in darker and sustained pigmentation. These findings have potential implications on the management of photo-aggravated pigmentary disorders, the proper use of sunscreens, and the treatment of depigmented lesions.     

Leaflet Movement of Robinia pseudoacacia in Response to a Changing Light Environment

Diurnal and nocturnal leaflet movement of black locust （Robinia pseudoacacia L.） was investigated under three light schemes： 100% natural irradiance, 50% shading, and 90% shading. Changes in leaf mid-vein angle were described by measurements of two planes： （i） β, the angle formed by the bottom of the petiolule and its relation to the horizontal plane; and （ii） θ, the angle between the petiolule and the main leaflet vein. The two highest light regimens had a significant effect on β. Variation in β tends to make the leaflet more erect, thereby minimizing any negative impact of high irradiance on leaf lamina. Light-dark rhythms induced variation in θ （termed nyctinastic movement）. Nyctinastic movement is important during the low light levels experienced by leaflets in early morning and late afternoon. At low light levels, the leaflet stopped nyctinastic movement and θ was fixed at an angle that may have enabled the leaf lamina to maximize light interception. After the light-dark cycle was reestablished, nyctinastic movement was restored. Taken together, our results suggest that irradiance induces variation in β leading to diurnal leaflet movement （diaheliotropism）, whereas the light-dark cycle influences θ, which results in nocturnal leaflet movement. Both angles are important for describing patterns of leaf movement in R. pseudocacia.     

Aplysia punctata added to list of laboratory-cultured Aplysia

The marine opisthobranch molluscAplysia punctata was cultured at the Laboratoire de Biologie Marine in Concarneau, France.A. punctata veligers settled and underwent metamorphosis on the algaLomentaria articulata, but not onUlva spp., Palmaria marina, Laminaria spp. andFucus spp.Research supported by grants from The Arts Foundation and the Lerner Fund for Marine Research of the American Museum of Natural History. We wish to thank Director Yves Legal, College de France for his support and cooperation.     

几种光合作用光响应典型模型的比较研究

光响应曲线是判定植物光合效率的重要方法,通过曲线可以获得植物光合特性的相关生理参数,但不同模型提取的光响应参数和指标存在差异。本文选择直角双曲线、非直角双曲线和两种指数曲线模型,分别对3个品系常绿杨光响应数据进行拟合,提取了各光响应曲线模型的主要特征参数,对比分析了各模型参数问的差异,并对光饱和点（LSP）的不同计算方法进行了讨论。最后用巨尾桉光响应数据对分析结果作了进一步验证。结果表明,直角和非直角双曲线模型拟合的最大净光合速率（P＇max）、表观量子效率（a）及暗呼吸速率（Rd）值高于指数模型拟合值,且直角双曲线拟合的各参数均比非直角双曲线拟合的各参数的值大,而两指数模型各参数拟合值基本一致;在LSP计算方法中,用光通量200μmol·m^-2·s^-1以下的点拟合的Pn-I直线与其它模型相结合得到光饱和点的方法不可靠,会使计算结果明显偏小,用接近最大总光合速率Pmax一定比例的方法估计LSP也存在较大偏差,而P＇max由于消除了Rd的影响,计算光饱和点时各模型的估计比例相对固定,是一个比较理想的LSP估计方法,初步得出直角、非直角及指数模型用P＇max来估计光饱和点时应选取的比例分别为（78±1）％、（82±1）％及（96±1）％。