The artistry of dinoflagellate bioluminescence

The Artistry of Construction

Hydrodynamic stimulation of dinoflagellate bioluminescence: a computational and experimental study.

Dinoflagellate bioluminescence provides a near-instantaneous reporter of cell response to flow. Although both fluid shear stress and acceleration are thought to be stimulatory, previous studies have used flow fields dominated by shear. In the present study, computational and experimental approaches were used to assess the relative contributions to bioluminescence stimulation of shear stress and...

Dinoflagellate bioluminescence in response to mechanical stimuli in water flows

Bioluminescence of plankton organisms induced by water movements has long been observed and is still under investigations because of its great complexity. In particular, the exact mechanism occurring at the level of the cell has not been yet fully understood. This work is devoted to the study of the bioluminescence of the dinoflagellates plankton species Pyrocystis noctiluca in response to mech...

Effect of red tide dinoflagellate diet and cannibalism on the bioluminescence of the heterotrophic dinoflagellates

The effects of diet and cannibalism were assessed from changes in the bioluminescence potential of 2 speclvb of the heterotrophic dinoflagellate Protoperidinium fed 4 specles of red tide dinoflagellate prey and also maintained without added prey. The use of bioluminescence as a sensitive indicator of nutritional status and feeding was explored. The bioluminescence of Protoperidinium cf. diverge...

Evidence for the role of G-proteins in flow stimulation of dinoflagellate bioluminescence.

Luminescent dinoflagellates respond to flow by the production of light. The primary mechanotransduction event is unknown, although downstream events include a calcium flux in the cytoplasm, a self-propagating action potential across the vacuole membrane, and a proton flux into the cytoplasm that activates the luminescent chemistry. Given the role of GTP-binding (G) proteins in the mechanotransd...