Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 April 1979:
Vol. 204. no. 4391, pp. 407 - 410
DOI: 10.1126/science.204.4391.407
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

ggr-Aminobutyric Acid, a Neurotransmitter, Induces Planktonic Abalone Larvae to Settle and Begin Metamorphosis

DANIEL E. MORSE 1, NEAL HOOKER 1, HELEN DUNCAN 1, and LLOYD JENSEN 1

1 Marine Science Institute and Department of Biological Science, University of California, Santa Barbara 93106

ggr-Aminobutyric acid (a simple amino acid and potent neurotransmitter in human brain and other tissues of higher animals) and certain of its congeners rapidly and synchronously induce planktonic larvae of the red abalone, Haliotis rufescens, to settle and commence behavioral and developmental metamorphosis. These naturally occurring inducers of algal origin apparently are responsible, in part, for the substrate-specific recruitment, induction of settling, and the onset of metamorphosis of abalone and other planktonic larvae upon specific algae which provide naturally favorable habitats for the young of these species in coastal waters. These observations provide a convenient experimental model for further analysis of the basic molecular mechanisms by which environmental and endogenous factors control the recruitment and development of planktonic larvae. Halogenated organic pesticides significantly interfere with larval settling, as quantified in a new bioassay based upon these findings.

Submitted on October 23, 1978
Revised on January 24, 1979


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Articulated Coralline Algae of the Genus Amphiroa Are Highly Effective Natural Inducers of Settlement in the Tropical Abalone Haliotis asinina.
E. A. Williams, A. Craigie, A. Yeates, and S. M. Degnan (2008)
Biol. Bull. 215, 98-107
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Chemical Defenses: From Compounds to Communities.
V. J. Paul, K. E. Arthur, R. Ritson-Williams, C. Ross, and K. Sharp (2007)
Biol. Bull. 213, 226-251
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Extracellular {gamma}-Aminobutyrate Mediates Communication between Plants and Other Organisms.
B. J. Shelp, A. W. Bown, and D. Faure (2006)
Plant Physiology 142, 1350-1352
   Full Text »    PDF »
Induction of Settlement of Larvae of the Sea Urchin Holopneustes purpurascens by Histamine From a Host Alga.
R. L. Swanson, J. E. Williamson, R. De Nys, N. Kumar, M. P. Bucknall, and P. D. Steinberg (2004)
Biol. Bull. 206, 161-172
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Serotonin and Nitric Oxide Regulate Metamorphosis in the Marine Snail Ilyanassa obsoleta.
E. M. Leise, K. Thavaradhara, N. R. Durham, and B. E. Turner (2001)
Integr. Comp. Biol. 41, 258-267
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Recruitment in a Sea Anemone Population: Juvenile Substrate Becomes Adult Prey.
K. P. SEBENS (1981)
Science 213, 785-787
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)