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Science 3 January 1986:
Vol. 231. no. 4733, pp. 51 - 54
DOI: 10.1126/science.3941891
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Articles

Science, Vol 231, Issue 4733, 51-54
Copyright © 1986 by American Association for the Advancement of Science

articles

Heat shock elicits production of sexual inducer in Volvox

DL Kirk and MM Kirk

In the green alga Volvox carteri, heat shock had an unusual and adaptive effect mediated by induced production of a well-defined effector molecule. Females of this species normally reproduce asexually in the absence of a potent sexual inducer produced by mature sexual males, but they generated egg-bearing sexual daughters after a brief exposure to elevated temperatures. This response involved an "autoinduction" of sexuality, in which heat-shocked somatic cells made and released the sexual inducer, which then redirected development of the reproductive cells. Males, including a sterile mutant incapable of producing inducer in the usual manner, also produced the inducer in response to heat shock. The phenomenon probably is of significance in the wild, where Volvox reproduces asexually in temporary ponds in spring but becomes sexual and produces dormant, overwintering zygotes before the ponds dry up in the summer heat.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Channelrhodopsins of Volvox carteri Are Photochromic Proteins That Are Specifically Expressed in Somatic Cells under Control of Light, Temperature, and the Sex Inducer.
A. Kianianmomeni, K. Stehfest, G. Nematollahi, P. Hegemann, and A. Hallmann (2009)
Plant Physiology 151, 347-366
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
A Gender-Specific Retinoblastoma-Related Protein in Volvox carteri Implies a Role for the Retinoblastoma Protein Family in Sexual Development.
A. Kianianmomeni, G. Nematollahi, and A. Hallmann (2008)
PLANT CELL 20, 2399-2419
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Cell-Cell Communication in Bacteria: United We Stand.
S. B. von Bodman, J. M. Willey, and S. P. Diggle (2008)
J. Bacteriol. 190, 4377-4391
   Full Text »    PDF »
Genes Specifically Expressed in Sexually Differentiated Female Spheroids of Volvox carteri.
N. Aono, T. Inoue, and H. Shiraishi (2005)
J. Biochem. 138, 375-382
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to the Sexual Pheromone and Wounding in the Green Alga Volvox: Induction of an Extracellular Glycoprotein Consisting Almost Exclusively of Hydroxyproline.
F. Ender, A. Hallmann, P. Amon, and M. Sumper (1999)
J. Biol. Chem. 274, 35023-35028
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Sex-Inducing Pheromone and Wounding Trigger the Same Set of Genes in the Multicellular Green Alga Volvox.
P. Amon, E. Haas, and M. Sumper (1998)
PLANT CELL 10, 781-790
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


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