Gravitaxis in unicellular microorganisms
Abstract
Orientation of organisms with respect to the gravitational field of the Earth has been studied for more than 100 years in a number of unicellular microorganisms including flagellates and ciliates. Several hypotheses have been developed how the weak stimulus is perceived. Intracellular statoliths have been found to be involved in gravitaxis of Loxodes, while no specialized organelles have been detected in other ciliates, e.g. Paramecium. Also in the slime mold Physarum no specialized gravireceptors have been identified yet. In the flagellate Euglena gracilis the whole cell body, which is denser than the surrounding medium, seems to act as a statolith pressing onto the lower membrane where it activates mechanosensitive ion channels. Similar results were obtained for the ciliate Paramecium. In contrast to the flagellate Euglena, several ciliates have been found to show gravikinesis, which is defined as a dependence of the swimming velocity on the direction of movement in the gravity field.
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Various single-celled eukaryotes (protists) and ciliated larvae of sponges devoid of neurons can display sophisticated behaviours, including phototaxis, gravitaxis or chemotaxis.
“Various single-celled eukaryotes (protists) and the ciliated larvae of sponges devoid of neurons can display sophisticated behaviours, including phototaxis, gravitaxis or chemotaxis.”
From Origin and early evolution of neural circuits for the control of ciliary locomotion (2011) · cites this paper as [28]
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Sensory transduction of gravitaxis in Euglena gracilis
Streb, C., Richter, P., Ntefidou, M., Lebert, M., & Häder, D.-P. (2002) · Journal of Plant Physiology · doi:10.1078/0176-1617-00769 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Häder, D.-P.
- Affiliations
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Häder, D.-P.
- Venue
- Advances in Space Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 1999
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 843-850
- ISSN
- 0273-1177 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2000561894
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 66
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Advances in Space Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Spaceflight effects on biology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vestibular and auditory disorders
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Slime Mold and Myxomycetes Research
- Keywords
- gravitaxis, ciliates, flagellates, statoliths, Euglena gracilis, Paramecium, Physarum, mechanosensitive ion channels, gravity sensing, swimming speed
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Euglena gracilis, Flagella, Gravitation, Locomotion, Motor Activity, Orientation, Paramecium, Physarum, Ciliophora, Gravity Sensing, Eukaryota
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