QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hayashi, Y. Articles by Motokawa, T. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hayashi, Y. Articles by Motokawa, T. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Journal of Experimental Biology 125,71-84 (1986)
Published by Company of Biologists 1986

Effects of Ionic Environment on Viscosity of Catch Connective Tissue in Holothurian Body Wall

Yutaka Hayashi ¹ and Tatsuo Motokawa ²

¹ Department of Biology, University ofthe Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-01 Japan: Institute of Biology, Technical University, Franklinstrasse, D-100 West Berlin.
² Department of Biology, University ofthe Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, 903-01 Japan

To whom reprint request should be sent.

1. The effects of cations (H⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺) on the mechanical properties of the catch connective tissue in the dermis of a sea cucumber, Holothuria leucospilota Brandt, were studied.

2. The manipulation of the ionic environment caused rapid (apparent in minutes) and reversible viscosity change.

3. Artificial sea water (ASW) with a high concentration of Ca²⁺ (50mmol1^-1) increased the normal viscosity 9 times; Ca²⁺-free ASW decreased it to one-tenth. Ca²⁺ was the only ion which caused a viscosity change whose range was as large as the range of the viscosity distribution of the dermis in ASW.

4. Manipulation of the concentration of other'ions caused an increase in viscosity. An increase of more than five-fold was observed in the following solutions: ASW with acidic (pH4) or basic (pH9, 10) pH; Na⁺-free ASW whose Na⁺ was replaced by either sucrose or choline; ASW with high (100 mmol1^-1) concentration of K⁺ ; ASW with low (0 mmoll^-1) or high (250 mmol1^-1) concentrations of Mg²⁺.

5. The dermis contracted in distilled water, although this tissue contained no muscle cells.

Key words: catch connective tissue, viscosity, Ca²⁺, ionic environment, sea cucumber.

Accepted on April 28, 1986

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Tamori, A. Yamada, N. Nishida, Y. Motobayashi, K. Oiwa, and T. Motokawa Tensilin-like stiffening protein from Holothuria leucospilota does not induce the stiffest state of catch connective tissue J. Exp. Biol., May 1, 2006; 209(9): 1594 - 1602. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. B. Ries Effect of ambient Mg/Ca ratio on Mg fractionation in calcareous marine invertebrates: A record of the oceanic Mg/Ca ratio over the Phanerozoic Geology, November 1, 2004; 32(11): 981 - 984. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Motokawa and A. Tsuchi Dynamic Mechanical Properties of Body-Wall Dermis in Various Mechanical States and Their Implications for the Behavior of Sea Cucumbers Biol. Bull., December 1, 2003; 205(3): 261 - 275. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Szulgit and R. Shadwick Dynamic mechanical characterization of a mutable collagenous tissue: response of sea cucumber dermis to cell lysis and dermal extracts J. Exp. Biol., January 5, 2000; 203(10): 1539 - 1550. [Abstract] [PDF]

				T. Koob, M. Koob-Emunds, and J. Trotter Cell-derived stiffening and plasticizing factors in sea cucumber (Cucumaria frondosa) dermis J. Exp. Biol., January 9, 1999; 202(17): 2291 - 2301. [Abstract] [PDF]