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Motile unicells of Apedinella radians have the extraordinary ability to instantaneously reorient six elongate spine-scales located on the cell surface. Extracellular striated fibrous connectors (termed microligaments) attach spine-scales to discrete regions of the plasma membrane underlain by intricate cytoplasmic plaques. A complex cytoskeleton is associated with the plaques and appears responsible for spine-scale movement. Three cytoskeletal proteins have thus far been identified by immunofluorescence using anti-tubulin, anti-actin, and anti-centrin. The three-dimensional configuration of the cytoskeleton has been established and consists of filamentous bundles of actin and centrin which form stellate systems interconnecting the plaques. Additionally, there is a network of microtubular triads which originate on the surface of the nuclear envelope and subtend the plasma membrane and also support several tentacular protrusions. It is proposed that contraction of the actin and/or centrin filamentous bundles is responsible for the reorientation of the spinescales.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Biological Sciences
Research Group:	Plant Biology
Research Field:	Phycology (incl. Marine Grasses)
Objective Division:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Group:	Expanding Knowledge
Objective Field:	Expanding Knowledge in the Biological Sciences
Author:	Koutoulis, A (Professor Anthony Koutoulis)
ID Code:	70918
Year Published:	1988
Web of Science® Times Cited:	35
Deposited By:	Research Division
Deposited On:	2011-07-05
Last Modified:	2011-07-06
Downloads:	0