Abstract
The correlation between photophobic responses and light-induced electric potential changes has been studied in the blue-green alga Phormidium uncinatum.
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1.
The photophobic reaction time depends on both length of preillumination and presentation time of stimulus. Under optimal conditions a reaction time of about 10 s has been determined.
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2.
Light-induced potential changes can be measured by means of external electrodes with a small gap between them bridged by a population of perpendicularly oriented trichomes. These potential changes follow a light-dark cycle with a lag phase of about 10 s.
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3.
The amplitude of these light-induced potential changes increases with light intensity until it reaches a saturation value of about 12 mV at 10000 lx. The action spectrum resembles the photophobic action spectrum with peaks in the absorption region of C-phycoerythrin and chlorophyll a.
The significance of light-induced potential changes as a means of sensory transduction for photophobic responses in blue-green algae is being discussed.
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On leave to MSU/ERDA Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, U.S.A., till march 1979
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Häder, DP. Evidence of electrical potential changes in photophobically reacting blue-green algae. Arch. Microbiol. 118, 115–119 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406083
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406083