scholarly journals The Activity of Slugs

1954 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-197
Author(s):  
BARBARA H. DAINTON

1. Slugs are normally active at night, but this is not a response to darkness. The onset of nocturnal activity does not necessarily coincide, either in the field or in the laboratory, with the onset of darkness. On the contrary, dark-adapted, inactive animals become active on illumination. 2. The activity which follows illumination is short-lived, adaptation being complete within an hour. 3. Dark-adaptation is slower than light-adaptation and takes between 1 and 2 hr. 4. The response occurs whether illumination is constant or intermittent and in white or red light. Once adapted to red light the slugs do not respond to illumination by white light. 5. This effect of light, in initially activating the slugs, clearly cannot account for the occasional daytime activity observed in the field, when the slugs emerge from dark resting places. 6. Once the slugs are light-adapted, the activity during the daytime remains at a very low level even under continued illumination. This low level is probably the same as occurs in the dark under similar conditions. 7. Air currents played on the body or tail of the slug increase the speed of locomotion or induce activity if the animal is at rest. 8. Air currents played on the head or tentacles results in a klinotactic response whereby the animal turns from the region of draught or moves down stream. 9. These reactions must supplement the reactions in a temperature gradient which lead the slugs at the close of activity to sheltered resting places.

1961 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 1143-1158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eberhard Dodt ◽  
Karl Heinz Jessen

The effect of light and dark adaptation on the electrical activity in two species of nocturnal gecko, Hemidactylus turcicus and Tarentola mauritanica was studied. The electroretinogram of both species changes from the scotopic type in the dark-adapted state to the photopic type after strong light adaptation. For the scotopic response fusion frequencies up to 18 flashes per sec. are obtained in both species. For the photopic response fusion frequencies up to 50 flashes per sec. are seen in Tarentola, and up to 25 flashes per sec. in Hemidactylus. Proceeding from dark to light adaptation the increment threshold (dI) is measured at different levels of adaptive illumination (I). At low levels of illumination the dI/I ratio is found to be small and at high levels of illumination to be large. No difference in the dI/I ratio is obtained for test lights of 462 and 605 mµ. During dark adaptation the change of threshold after exposure to moderate and weak lights (up to 103 times dark threshold) is rather fast. After light adaptation to strong light (106 times dark threshold) duplex dark adaptation curves are seen with a break separating a fast and a slow phase of dark adaptation. The significance of these results from a retina which possesses sense cells of only one type is discussed.


1928 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Crozier ◽  
Ernst Wolf

A method is described which measures the excitation of Agriolimax by light, during the progress of light adaptation, by assuming that the orientating effect of continuous excitation is expressed as a directly proportionate tension difference in the orienting muscles of the two sides of the body. The tendency toward establishment of such a tension difference is caused to work against a similar geotropic effect at right angles to the phototropic one. This enables one to study the kinetics of light adaptation, and of dark adaptation as well. The situation in the receptors is adequately described by the paradigm See PDF for Equation similar to that derived by Hecht for the differential sensitivity of various forms, but with the difference that the "dark" reaction is not only "bimolecular" but also autocatalysed by the reaction product S. The progress of dark adaptation is reflected (1) in the recovery of the amplitude of the orientation and (2) in the rates of light adaptation at different levels of the recovery; each independently supports these assumptions, for which the necessary equations have been provided. These equations also account for the relative variabilities of the angles of orientation, and, more significantly, for the two quite different kinds of curves of dark adaptation which are obtained in slightly different types of tests.


Toxins ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 809
Author(s):  
Alexandros Polyzois ◽  
Diana Kirilovsky ◽  
Thi-hanh Dufat ◽  
Sylvie Michel

Cryptophycin-1 is a cyanotoxin produced by filamentous cyanobacteria. It has been evaluated as an anticancer agent with great potential. However, its synthesis provides insufficient yield for industrial use. An alternative solution for metabolite efficient production is to stress cyanobacteria by modifying the environmental conditions of the culture (Nostoc sp. ATCC 53789). Here, we examined the effects of light photoperiod, wavelength, and intensity. In light photoperiod, photoperiods 24:0 and 16:8 (light:dark) were tested while in wavelength, orange-red light was compared with blue. Medium, high, and very high light intensity experiments were performed to test the effect of light stress. For a 10-day period, growth was measured, metabolite concentration was calculated through HPLC, and the related curves were drawn. The differentiation of light wavelength had a major effect on the culture, as orange-red filter contributed to noticeable increase in both growth and doubled the cyanotoxin concentration in comparison to blue light. Remarkably, constant light provides higher cryptophycin yield, but slightly lower growth rate. Lastly, the microorganism prefers medium light intensities for both growth and metabolite expression. The combination of these optimal conditions would contribute to the further exploitation of cryptophycin.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilor Kelly ◽  
Danja Brandsma ◽  
Aiman Egbaria ◽  
Ofer Stein ◽  
Adi Doron-Faigenboim ◽  
...  

AbstractThe hypocotyls of germinating seedlings elongate in a search for light to enable autotrophic sugar production. Upon exposure to light, photoreceptors that are activated by blue and red light halt elongation by preventing the degradation of the hypocotyl-elongation inhibitor HY5 and by inhibiting the activity of the elongation-promoting transcription factors PIFs. The question of how sugar affects hypocotyl elongation and which cell types stimulate and stop that elongation remains unresolved. We found that overexpression of a sugar sensor, Arabidopsis hexokinase 1 (HXK1), in guard cells promotes hypocotyl elongation under white and blue light through PIF4. Furthermore, expression of PIF4 in guard cells is sufficient to promote hypocotyl elongation in the light, while expression of HY5 in guard cells is sufficient to inhibit the elongation of the hy5 mutant and the elongation stimulated by HXK1. HY5 exits the guard cells and inhibits hypocotyl elongation, but is degraded in the dark. We also show that the inhibition of hypocotyl elongation by guard cells’ HY5 involves auto-activation of HY5 expression in other tissues. It appears that guard cells are capable of coordinating hypocotyl elongation and that sugar and HXK1 have the opposite effect of light on hypocotyl elongation, converging at PIF4.


1982 ◽  
Vol 99 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
DONALD H. EDWARDS

1. The responses of the cockroach descending contralateral movement detector (DCMD) neurone to moving light stimuli were studied under both light- and dark-adapted conditions. 2. With light-adaptation the response of the DCMD to two moving 2° (diam.) spots of white light is less than the response to a single spot when the two spots are separated by less than 10° (Fig. 2). 3. With light-adaptation the response of the DCMD to a single moving light spot is a sigmoidally shaped function of the logarithm of the light intensity (Fig. 3a). With dark-adaptation the response of a DCMD to a single moving light spot is a bell-shaped function of the logarithm of the stimulus intensity (Fig. 3b). The absolute intensity that evokes a threshold response is about one-and-a-half log units less in the dark-adapted eye than in the light-adapted eye. 4. The decrease in the DCMD's response that occurs when two stimuli are closer than 10°, and when a single bright stimulus is made brighter, indicates that lateral inhibition operates among the afferents to the DCMD. 5. It is shown that this inhibition cannot be produced by a recurrent lateral inhibitory network. A model of the afferent path that contains a non-recurrent lateral inhibitory network can account for the response/intensity plots of the DCMD recorded under both light-adapted and dark-adapted conditions. 6. The threshold intensity of the DCMD is increased if a stationary pattern of light is present near the path of the moving spot stimulus. This is shown to be due to a peripheral tonic lateral inhibition that is distinct from the non-recurrent lateral inhibition described earlier. 7. It is suggested that the peripheral lateral inhibition acts to adjust the threshold of afferents to local background light levels, while the proximal non-recurrent network acts to enhance the acuity of the eye to small objects in the visual field, and to filter out whole-field stimuli.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Mascherini ◽  
Cristian Petri ◽  
Elena Ermini ◽  
Angelo Pizzi ◽  
Antonio Ventura ◽  
...  

AbstractSoccer referees are a specific group of the athletes’ population whose careers peak from 30 to 45 years old. An athlete's performance is not only determined by physical training but also by a lifestyle, e.g. eating habits. The purpose of this study was to verify current eating habits and resulting body composition of a group of elite international soccer referees. At an international FIFA seminar 60 elite international soccer referees (aged 39.2 ± 4.2 years) were enrolled. A body composition assessment was performed with skinfold thickness and bio impedance analysis, while eating habits were evaluated with a multi-pass 24-hour dietary recall. The body composition showed a normal weight condition with a fat content of 11.4 ± 2.5%. Macronutrients showed a low level of carbohydrates (43.6 ± 5.4%) and a high level of fat (40.0 ± 4.5%). Micronutrients showed a low level of calcium, potassium, zinc, magnesium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin B9. Even though their body composition was within the normal range, the current eating habits of elite international soccer referees did not appear to follow the nutrition guidelines. Therefore, it would be advisable to provide knowledge on nutrition for this particular category of sports subjects, an individualized nutritional plan would be advisable, in order to achieve and maintain better performance and appropriate body composition for their role.


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