Open AccessThe chemotactic response of the myxomycete Physarum polyhcepalum to amino acids, cyclic nucleotides and folic acid
Author(s) -
McClory Alexandrena,
Coote J.G.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1985.tb01590.x
Subject(s) - physarum polycephalum , biochemistry , threonine , serine , amino acid , tryptophan , glycine , alanine , asparagine , nucleotide , physarum , chemotaxis , aspartic acid , chemistry , biology , stereochemistry , phosphorylation , receptor , gene
Abstract The plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum exhibited positive chemotaxis towards l ‐alanine, l ‐aspartate, l ‐asparagine, l ‐glutamate, glycine, l ‐leucine, l ‐serine, and l ‐threonine and negative chemotaxis towards l ‐tryptophan. All attractant amino acids, except l ‐serine and l ‐threonine competed with each other; l ‐serine and l ‐threonine competed with the other amino acids but did not interfere with the response to each other. Cyclic nucleotides were attractants and cyclic 3′,5′‐ or 2′,3′‐phosphate derivatives of either adenine or guanine were active, wheras compounds lacking the ring structure generally were not. Folic acid was an attractant whereas certain aromatic compounds were either inactive or repellent.