Fig. 3. (A) Serotonin, gramine and octopamine affect the electropharyngeograms
(EPGs) of eat-18 mutants. Serotonin (1 µmoll-1)
enhances M3 activity and decreases the action potential duration of
eat-18 mutant pharynxes. Gramine (100 µmoll-1) and
octopamine (100 µmoll-1) increase action potential duration and
suppress M3 activity in the presence and absence of exogenous serotonin. EPGs
shown for each drug condition are statistically representative of the average
action potential duration and M3 activity of all recordings. (B) Quantitative
analysis of M3 activity and action potential duration in eat-18
mutants. Serotonin (1 µmoll-1) significantly decreases action
potential duration and enhances M3 activity (P<0.005). Gramine
(100 µmoll-1) and octopamine (100 µmoll-1) block
the serotonin-stimulated decrease in action potential duration and enhancement
of M3 activity (P<0.001). Gramine and octopamine also increase
action potential duration and suppress M3 activity in the absence of exogenous
serotonin (P<0.05). Values are means + S.E.M. Significant
differences between the indicated measurement and data recorded *
in the absence of drug or
in the presence of 1
µmoll-1 serotonin.