Mechanism of barotaxis in marine zooplankton

Hydrostatic pressure is a dominant environmental cue for vertically migrating marine organisms but the physiological mechanisms of responding to pressure changes remain unclear. Here, we uncovered the cellular and circuit bases of a barokinetic response in the planktonic larva of the marine annelid...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bezares Calderón, Luis Alberto (Author) , Shahidi, Réza (Author) , Jékely, Gáspár (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 19 September 2024
In: eLife
Year: 2024, Volume: 13, Pages: RP94306-1-RP94306-23
ISSN:2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.94306
Online Access:Verlag, lizenzpflichtig, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.94306
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Author Notes:Luis Alberto Bezares Calderón, Réza Shahidi, Gáspár Jékely
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Summary:Hydrostatic pressure is a dominant environmental cue for vertically migrating marine organisms but the physiological mechanisms of responding to pressure changes remain unclear. Here, we uncovered the cellular and circuit bases of a barokinetic response in the planktonic larva of the marine annelid Platynereis dumerilii. Increased pressure induced a rapid, graded, and adapting upward swimming response due to the faster beating of cilia in the head multiciliary band. By calcium imaging, we found that brain ciliary photoreceptors showed a graded response to pressure changes. The photoreceptors in animals mutant for ciliary opsin-1 had a smaller sensory compartment and mutant larvae showed diminished pressure responses. The ciliary photoreceptors synaptically connect to the head multiciliary band via serotonergic motoneurons. Genetic inhibition of the serotonergic cells blocked pressure-dependent increases in ciliary beating. We conclude that ciliary photoreceptors function as pressure sensors and activate ciliary beating through serotonergic signalling during barokinesis.
Item Description:Gesehen am 27.02.2025
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:2050-084X
DOI:10.7554/eLife.94306