- 1.
The effects of cholinergic and monoaminergic drugs and blocking agents on luminescence responses of the comb-jelly Mnemiopsis leidyi were investigated, using isolated strips of meridional cells.
- 2.
Catecholamines elicited dose-dependent flash activity and adrenalin was the most patent. The adrenalin response was abolished by propranolol (0.1 mmol l−1), but not phentolamine. Reserpine (0.1 mmol l−1) suppressed the flash response to electrical stimulation without affecting the adrenalin response.
- 3.
Acetylcholine (ACh) elicited flash activity which was propagated along the meridional canals. Eserine (0.01 mmol l−1) potentiated the flash response to either ACh or electrical stimulation.
- 4.
Tubocurarine reduced or abolished responses to either ACh or electrical stimulation. Atropine elicited intense flash activity and potentiated the response to electrical stimulation, but failed to block the ACh response.
- 5.
Prolonged exposure of meridional canals to serotonin (5-HT) depressed or abolished flash responses to ACh, adrenalin and electrical stimulation.
- 6.
The ACh flash response was abolished by propranolol but the response to adrenalin was not altered by tubocurarine. It is concluded that nicotinic cholinergic and beta-adrenergic mechanisms are interrelated and indirectly involved in excitation of luminescence in Mnemiopsis.
Cholinergic and Monoaminergic Mechanisms Associated with Control of Bioluminescence in the Ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi
MICHEL ANCTIL; Cholinergic and Monoaminergic Mechanisms Associated with Control of Bioluminescence in the Ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi. J Exp Biol 1 November 1985; 119 (1): 225–238. doi: https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.119.1.225
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