Date of Award
1997
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. Chemistry Dept.
Advisor(s)
Bradford P. Mundy
Second Advisor
Paul Greenwood
Abstract
Calcium metabolism is involved in many ways in the cellular activities of the colonial green alga, Volvox carteri. Various drugs that are known in other systems to cause specific changes in calcium metabolism, gave rise to various visible metabolic effects in this study. These effects provide evidence for calcium's role in Volvox growth and development and in its cytoskeleton. Another way that calcium exerts its effect on Volvox is by acting as a second messenger in a G-protein/inositol phosphate signal transduction pathway.
This study also supports the fact that cytoskeletal components are important for development in Volvox. Both microtubules and microfilaments are necessary for mitosis. Microtubules are necessary for cell shape changes that occur at the beginning of inversion. Microfilaments are necessary to complete the inversion process.
Keywords
Calcium -- Metabolism, Volvox
Recommended Citation
Neville, Bridget Anne, "Calcium metabolismn in Volvox Carteri" (1997). Honors Theses. Paper 178.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/178
Copyright
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