A photosensitive daily rhythm in the female medaka, Oryzias latipes

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 852-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Ka-Sing Chan

Adult female medaka, Oryzias latipes, with regressed ovaries were exposed to 7 h of continuous light plus an additional hour of light at different times during the dark period of a 24-h cycle (7 + 1 light: 16 dark) at 24 ± 1 °C. When this additional hour of light falls on the 16th h, counting the onset of the light period as the 0 h, ovarian development was induced. This ovarian development is enhanced when the exposure period is increased and when the fish are preexposed to a warm temperature. The use of a photosensitive daily rhythm to measure photoperiod and to time the spawning season in the medaka is suggested.

1982 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Burghart Jilge

The circadian caecotrophy rhythm was synchronized with the light-dark cycle of 12 : 12 h. During this the rabbits practised caecotrophy regularly during the light period. While most rabbits manifested 1 caecotrophy per 24 h (monophasic caecotrophy), some had an additional caecotrophy during the dark period (diphasic caecotrophy). During continuous light the circadian caecotrophy rhythm ran free monophasically, even in those rabbits which were diphasic under the preceding 12 : 12 regime. The average period length amounted to 24·7 ± 0·3 h. Following restoration of the 12 : 12 routine animals reestablished their original caecotrophy pattern. In a further test the caecotrophy pattern remained constant during a constant 12 : 12 regimen, but changed in 7 of 16 animals when the photoperiod was reduced first to 60 min and then to 2 × 60 min light every 24 h. The reduction of the lit time resulted in an increased occurrence of diphasic animals. Details of synchronization of the caecotrophy rhythm with the different light-dark schedules are given. These results accord with data obtained in nocturnal rodent species.


1968 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. E. McFarlane

Male house crickets reared individually at 28 °C developed a diel periodicity in spermatophore formation, which consisted in loss of the spermatophore during the dark period and secretion during the light period. The periodicity became established only after most of the insects had formed at least two spermatophores in a random way with respect to light conditions. When periodicity was established, rearing the insects in continuous light resulted in the retention of the spermatophore by nearly all insects. Stridulation began in all experiments at the time of first spermatophore formation.


1988 ◽  
Vol 111 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Abdelrazik ◽  
Gh. A. El Sayiad ◽  
I. F. M. Marai ◽  
M. M. Soliman

SummaryDifferent photoperiodic treatments within 2 types of light dark cycles ranging from 24 to 30 h were applied to Peking ducks. The first consisted of constant photoperiods (1, 8L: 16D; 2, 14 L: 10D; 3, 18L:6D; 4, 14L: 13D; 5, 14L: 16D and 6, continuous light) and the second of intermittent cycles (1, 6L:2D:2L:14p; 2, 6L:4D:2L:12D; 3, 6L:6D:2L:10D; 4, 6L:8D:2L:8D and 5, 14L:½D:3½L:6D). The traits studied varied in response according to the photoperiodic regimes used. Rate of lay and eggs laid in the modal 8 h period increased with the duration of the light period in the cycle. Sequence lengths of 1–3 eggs were most frequent under all photoperiodic regimes (constant and intermittent). Length of intra-sequence interval (h) showed an inverse relationship with length of inter-sequence interval. A pause length of 2–4 days was the most frequent for all the different light-dark cycles. Egg weight was heavier in the second season than in the first when the light period of the photoperiodic regime was long. Weights of albumin and yolk showed similar trends to egg weight. The latter differences were significant, while shell weight differences were not significant. Plasma progesterone lvels were lowest in non-laying ducks. The highest values in laying ducks were before ovulation. The highest level of cortisol was shown during the last hours of the dark period. Differences from ovulatory cycle to another were observed.


1980 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. L. Ingram ◽  
D. E. Walters ◽  
K. F. Legge

SUMMARYGroups of weaner pigs, and single animals, were observed in a temperature-controlled room isolated from external noise and light for periods of up to 4 weeks. Continuous records were made of motor activity, food intake and water consumption.In the presence of a cycle of 12 h light and 12 h dark at 25 °C groups of pigs were most active in the light and took most of their food towards the end of the light period. Single pigs also tended to be more active in the light, but the rhythms were less marked, and one animal was most active during the dark period.In continuous light, rhythms of activity and ingestion tended to collapse after only a few days, particularly in pigs which were kept by themselves. When the ambient temperature was increased to 35 °C during 12 h light and decreased to 25 °C during 12 h dark, a group of pigs was most active in the dark.


Author(s):  
Tetsuaki Osafune ◽  
Shuji Sumida ◽  
Tomoko Ehara ◽  
Eiji Hase ◽  
Jerome A. Schiff

Changes in the morphology of pyrenoid and the distribution of RuBisCO in the chloroplast of Euglena gracilis were followed by immunoelectron microscopy during the cell cycle in a light (14 h)- dark (10 h) synchronized culture under photoautotrophic conditions. The imrnunoreactive proteins wereconcentrated in the pyrenoid, and less densely distributed in the stroma during the light period (growth phase, Fig. 1-2), but the pyrenoid disappeared during the dark period (division phase), and RuBisCO was dispersed throughout the stroma. Toward the end of the division phase, the pyrenoid began to form in the center of the stroma, and RuBisCO is again concentrated in that pyrenoid region. From a comparison of photosynthetic CO2-fixation with the total carboxylase activity of RuBisCO extracted from Euglena cells in the growth phase, it is suggested that the carboxylase in the pyrenoid functions in CO2-fixation in photosynthesis.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maura Turriani ◽  
Nicola Bernabò ◽  
Barbara Barboni ◽  
Gianluca Todisco ◽  
Luigi Montini ◽  
...  

Serinus canariais a widespread domestic ornamental songbird, whose limited knowledge of biology make compelling studies aimed to monitor stress. Here, a commercial enzyme immunoassay was adopted to measure immunoreactive corticosterone (CORT) in singleSerinus canariadropping sample, to monitor the daily fecal excretion of CORT in birds bred singly or in-group and to detect the effect promoted by aviary or small transport cage restraint. A robust daily rhythm of CORT was recorded in animals held on short-day light cycle, independent of bred conditions (single or group), which persisted when space availability was modified in single bred animal (transfer in aviary and transport cages). By contrast, a significant change in CORT excretion was recorded when group bred animals are restrained in a smaller cage. The daily rhythm in CORT excretion in response to manipulation showed the greatest response at the beginning of the light period, followed by the absence of the peak usually recorded at the end of the dark phase. These data indicated that EIA could be used as a reliable noninvasive approach to monitor the stress induced by restraint conditions inSerinus canaria.


1993 ◽  
Vol 264 (6) ◽  
pp. R1125-R1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Tobler ◽  
P. Franken ◽  
K. Jaggi

Vigilance states, electroencephalogram (EEG) power spectra (0.25-25.0 Hz), and cortical temperature (TCRT) were obtained in nine guinea pigs for 24 h in a 12:12-h light-dark (LD 12:12) schedule. Sleep was markedly polyphasic and fragmented and amounted to 32% of recording time, which is a low value compared with sleep in other rodents. There was 6.8% more sleep in the light period than in the dark period. EEG power density in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep showed no significant temporal trend within the light or the dark period. The homeostatic aspects of sleep regulation, as proposed in the two-process model, can account for the slow-wave activity (SWA) pattern also in the guinea pig: The small 24-h amplitude of the sleep-wakefulness pattern resulted in a small, 12% decline of SWA within the light period. In contrast to more distinctly nocturnal rodents, SWA in the dark period was not higher than in the light period. TCRT showed no difference between the light and the dark period. TCRT in REM sleep and waking was higher than TCRT in NREM sleep. TCRT increased after the transition from NREM sleep to either REM sleep or waking, and decreased in the last minute before the transition and after the transition from waking to NREM sleep. Motor activity measured in six animals for 11 days in constant darkness showed no apparent rhythm in three animals and a significant circadian rhythm in three others. Our data support the notion that guinea pigs exhibit only a weak circadian rest-activity rhythm.


2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 968-978 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Prada ◽  
Susan B. Udin ◽  
Allan F. Wiechmann ◽  
Irina V. Zhdanova

To investigate the physiological effects of melatonin receptors in the Xenopus tectum, we have used the fluorescent indicator Fluo-4 AM to monitor calcium dynamics of cells in tectal slices. Bath application of KCl elicited fluorescence increases that were reduced by melatonin. This effect was stronger at the end of the light period than at the end of the dark period. Melatonin increased γ-aminobutyric acid-C (GABAC)–receptor activity, as demonstrated by the ability of the GABAC-receptor antagonists, picrotoxin and TPMPA, to abolish the effects of melatonin. In contrast, neither the GABAA-receptor antagonist bicuculline nor the GABAB-receptor antagonist CGP 35348 diminished the effects of melatonin. RT-PCR analyses revealed expression of the 3 known melatonin receptors, MT1 (Mel1a), MT2 (Mel1b), and Mel1c. Because the effect of melatonin on tectal calcium increases was antagonized by an MT2-selective antagonist, 4-P-PDOT, we performed Western blot analyses with an antibody to the MT2 receptor; the data indicate that the MT2 receptor is expressed primarily as a dimeric complex and is glycosylated. The receptor is present in higher amounts at the end of the light period than at the end of the dark period, in a pattern complementary to the changes in melatonin levels, which are higher during the night than during the day. These results imply that melatonin, acting by MT2 receptors, modulates GABAC receptor activity in the optic tectum and that this effect is influenced by the light–dark cycle.


1999 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 749 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph A.M. Holtum ◽  
Klaus Winter

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) was observed in three species of tropical ferns, the epiphytes Microsorium punctatum and Polypodium crassifolium and the lithophyte Platycerium veitchii. Polypodium crassifolium and P. veitchii exhibited characteristics of weak CAM. Although no net nocturnal CO2 uptake was observed, the presence of CAM was inferred from nocturnal increases in titratable acidity of 4.7 and 4.1 µequiv (g fr wt)–1 respectively, a reduction in the rates of net CO2 evolution during the first half of the dark period, and the presence of a CAM-like decrease in net CO2 uptake during the early light period. In M. punctatum net CO2 uptake during the first half of the dark period was accompanied by an increase in titratable acidity of 39.2 µequiv (g fr wt)–1 and a pronounced reduction in net CO2 uptake during the early light period. When water was withheld from P. crassifolium and M. punctatum, net CO2 uptake during the light was reduced markedly but there was no change in the extent or patterns of CO2 exhange in the dark. As a consequence, the proportion of carbon gained due to CO2 fixation in the dark increased from 2.8 and 10% to 63.5 and 49.3%, respectively (100% being net CO2 uptake during the light plus the estimated CO2 uptake during the dark). After 9 days without added water, dark CO2 uptake was responsible for the maintenance of a net 24 h carbon gain in P. crassifolium. Platycerium veitchii, P. crassifolium and M. punctatum exhibited carbon isotope ratios of between –25.9 and –22.6‰ indicating that carbon isotope ratios may not, by themselves, be sufficient for the identification of weak CAM. We suggest that CAM may be more prevalent in tropical epiphytic and lithophytic ferns than currently envisaged.


1994 ◽  
Vol 49 (9-10) ◽  
pp. 607-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Günter Döhler ◽  
Thomas Biermann

Abstract The marine diatom Ditylum brightwellii (West) Grunow isolated from the Baltic Sea could be synchronized by a light/dark rhythm of 6.5:17.5 h (white light intensity 8 W m-2) at 18 °C and 0.035 vol.% CO2. Content of protein, DNA and RNA increased linearly up to the end of the cell cycle. Pigments (chlorophyll a, chlorophyll c1 + c2, carotenoids) and galactolipids were synthesized in the light period only. A lag phase of 2 h was observed in the biosynthesis of sulphoquinovosyl diacylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. Formation of phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylcholin continued in the dark period (30% and 28%, respectively). The pattern of major fatty acids (C14:0, C16:1, C16:0, C18:1 and C20:5) varied during the cell cycle of Ditylum.Biosynthesis of acyl lipids was reduced in dependence on the UV-B dose. The most sensitive lipid was digalactosyl diacylglycerol (total inhibition at 585 J m-2), whereas phosphatidylcholin was less affected (20% reduction). UV-B radiation during the dark period had no effect on the lipid and pigment content. Strongest inhibitory effect of UV-B on cell division, synthesis of protein, pigments, sulphoquinovosyl diacylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol was found after UV-B radiation at the beginning of the cell cycle (0.-2. h). An exposure time at the end of the light period (4.-6. h) led to a marked damage on the synthesis of monogalactosyl diacylglycerol and phosphatidylglycerol. These findings indicate a stage-dependent response of Ditylum to UV-B irradiance. The impact of UV-B resulted in an increase of unsaturated long chained fatty acids (C18, C20) and in a diminution of short chained fatty acids (C14, C16). Content of ATP was not affected by UV-B radiation under the used conditions. The inhibitory effect of UV-B on synthesis of DNA, RNA, protein and acyl lipids was mainly reversible. Results were discussed with reference to UV-B damage on the enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of acyl lipids and by a reduction of available metabolites.


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