Physiological characterization of gravitaxis in Euglena gracilis.
The motile, unicellular freshwater flagellate Euglena gracilis uses external stimuli, like gravity, light or oxygen pressure in order to orient itself in its natural habitat. In the darkness the cells normally show a negative gravitactic behavior, that means they swim upward in the water column, Many ground and space experiment revealed that gravitaxis is most likely based on active physiological mechanisms (involvement of calcium, cAMP, membrane potential and other parameters).
Richter
Peter
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Institute of Botany and Pharmaceutical Biology, Chair of Plant Ecophysiology, Friedrich-Alexander University, Erlangen. prichter@biologie.uni-erlangen.de
Ntefidou
Maria
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Streb
Christine
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Lebert
Michael
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Hader
Donat-P
DP