Dew-worms in white nights: High-latitude light constrains earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris) behaviour at the soil surface

Ceramide glycanase from the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris.

Ceramide glycanase (CGase) is an enzyme that cleaves the linkage between the sugar chain and the ceramide. To make this enzyme readily available, we have developed a simple method for preparing it from the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris. The method involves Bio-Gel A-0.5m, octyl-Sepharose and p-aminophenylthiogalactoside-agarose column chromatography. By gel filtration, the molecular mass of e...

Ontogenetic scaling of burrowing forces in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris.

In hydrostatic skeletons, it is the internal fluid under pressure surrounded by a body wall in tension (rather than a rigid lever) that enables the stiffening of the organism, the antagonism of muscles and the transmission of force from the muscles to the environment. This study examined the ontogenetic effects of body size on force production by an organism supported with a hydrostatic skeleto...

Scaling of the hydrostatic skeleton in the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris.

The structural and functional consequences of changes in size or scale have been well studied in animals with rigid skeletons, but relatively little is known about scale effects in animals with hydrostatic skeletons. We used glycol methacrylate histology and microscopy to examine the scaling of mechanically important morphological features of the earthworm Lumbricus terrestris over an ontogenet...

The nitrogenous metabolism of the earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris).

Facilitation in the rapid response of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris L.

In previous papers (Roberts, 1962 a, b) the earthworm's rapid response, mediated through the giant-fibre reflex, was described and analysed. In the course of these experiments it was noticed that in the early stages of repetitive stimulation successive responses do not remain the same size but show a marked tendency to increase in magnitude. This staircase effect is particularly pronounced in f...