Positive Phototropism in the Thallus of Bryopsis plumosa

Positive phototropism in the thallus of the marine coenocyticgreen alga Bryopsis plumosa was investigated in terms of themode of bending, the photosensitive zone and the effectivenessspectrum. The bending occurred as a consequence of a differencein growth rate between the illuminated and the shaded sidesof the thallus. Elongation on the shaded side was stimulatedwhile that on the illuminated side was inhibited. However, theoverall elongation rate was barely affected. Illumination witha fine beam revealed that a zone from approximately 80 to 120µm below the tip was the most photosensitive. The effectivenessspectrum showed that blue light (<550 nm) was most effective,with light at 467 nm having maximal effectiveness. (Received November 29, 1994; Accepted May 29, 1995)