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Journal of Experimental Biology 130,331-339 (1987)
Published by Company of Biologists 1987

Correlation of Electrical and Mechanical Activity of Holothurian Muscle

ROBERT B. HILL 1

1 Department of Zoology, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI 02881, USA; Bekesy Laboratory of Neurobiology, Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA

1. Spontaneous contractions of segments of an isolated longitudinal muscle of Holothuna cinerascens are not propagated across a sucrose gap. Asynchronous spiking and spontaneous depolarizations leading to contraction can be recorded independently on each side of the gap.

2. Caffeine-induced contractures are not the result of depolarization.

3. Depolarization with KCl temporarily restores contractility lost in a series of caffeine-induced contractures.

4. Acetylcholine causes a depolarization which induces contraction.

5. Individual muscle units may spike quite independently as depolarization progresses in a spontaneous contraction.

Key words: Holothuria, muscle, sucrose gap, asynchronous spiking

Accepted on March 16, 1987






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 1987