However, little else is known about the initial signaling events that facilitate the transduction of mechanical stimuli. In
the present study using the red tide dinoflagellate Lingulodinium polyedrum (Stein) Dodge, two forms of dinoflagellate bioluminescence, mechanically stimulated and spontaneous flashes, were used as reporter systems to pharmacological treatments that targeted various predicted signaling events at the plasma membrane level of the signaling pathway. Pretreatment with 200 μM Gadolinium III (Gd3+), a nonspecific blocker of stretch-activated and some selleck inhibitor voltage-gated ion channels, resulted in strong inhibition of both forms of bioluminescence. Pretreatment with 50 μM nifedipine, an inhibitor of L-type voltage-gated Ca2+ channels that inhibits mechanically stimulated bioluminescence, did not inhibit spontaneous bioluminescence. Treatment with 1 mM benzyl alcohol, a membrane fluidizer, was very effective in stimulating Nutlin-3a manufacturer bioluminescence. Benzyl alcohol-stimulated bioluminescence was inhibited by Gd3+ but not by nifedipine, suggesting that its role is through stretch activation via a change in plasma membrane fluidity. These results are consistent with the presence of stretch-activated and voltage-gated
ion channels in the bioluminescence mechanotransduction signaling pathway, with spontaneous flashing associated with a stretch-activated component at the plasma membrane. “
“Molecular studies have shown that
New Zealand’s rocky shores are a habitat for >30 species of Porphyra, but little is known of their seasonal and zonal distribution. The spatial and temporal distribution of bladed Porphyra gametophytes at Brighton Beach, southeast New Zealand, were monitored for 32 months. Molecular markers were used for species identification, and Bay 11-7085 a total of nine species was observed as being present during this time. Two species, P. cinnamomea and Porphyra sp. “ROS 54,” were the most common, and both were present for most months, while the remaining seven species were present sporadically, for only a few weeks at a time. P. cinnamomea W. A. Nelson and Porphyra sp. “ROS 54” were most common in the midintertidal, and both showed a similar seasonality with the highest presence during spring. They also showed a similar trend of seasonal dieback resulting in at least 1 month (May) in two consecutive years when they were both absent. This is one of the few studies investigating spatial and temporal distribution within a genus and over a 3-year period. Our results show no distinct intertidal zonation patterns within the genus, and we conclude that morphologically similar species in a similar habitat rely on physiological mechanisms for survival. “
“Molecular analyses of bacteria associated with photosynthetic organisms are often confounded by coamplification of the chloroplastidial 16S rDNA with the targeted bacterial 16S rDNA.