Abstract
The form of flagellar and ciliary beating in various organisms is regulated by the intracellular concentration of free Ca2+ (refs 1–5). In demembranated sea urchin sperm reactivated with 1 mM Mg-ATP2−, Ca2+ regulates the asymmetry of the flagellar waveform6–8. On reactivation at a free Ca2+ concentration below 10−8 M, the flagella beat with almost symmetric bending waves9, and the sperm swim in nearly straight paths with an average turning rate of ∼0.04 radians per beat, whereas in the presence of 10−3 M free Ca2+, the bending waves are highly asymmetric and the sperm describe circular paths with an average turning rate between 0.2–0.35 radians per beat. Here we show that low concentrations of various organic solvents interact with the mechanism by which Ca2+ induces waveform asymmetry. The solvents studied fall into two groups of which the first, consisting of methanol, 2-propanol and ethylene glycol, mimic the effect of Ca2+ and increase the asymmetry, whereas the second group, N,N′-dimethylformamide, formamide and p-dioxane, block the increase in asymmetry induced by Ca2+. However, all solvents in both groups act similarly in decreasing the flagellar beat frequency.
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Gibbons, B., Gibbons, I. Organic solvents modify the calcium control of flagellar movement in sea urchin sperm. Nature 292, 85–86 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292085a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292085a0
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