Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T09:09:00.302Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Studies on motility in vitro of an ectoparasitic monogenean, Diclidophora merlangi

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2009

A. G. Maule ,
D. W. Halton ,
J. M. Allen  and
I. Fairweather
A. G. Maule
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN
D. W. Halton*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN
J. M. Allen
Affiliation:
Biomedical Sciences Research Centre, University of Ulster at Jordanstown B37 0QB
I. Fairweather
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, The Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN
*
*Reprint requests to Professor D. W. Halton, Department of Biology, The Queen's University, Belfast BT7 1NN.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

An isometric transducer system has been used to record spontaneous motor activity in Diclidophora merlangi in vitro. Motility took the form of either continuous irregular contractions or bursts of activity with intermittent quiescent periods. Maximal activity was recorded from specimens at 5–8 °C in artificial sea water (ASW). Decerebration induced a period of enhanced motility which subsided within 1 h. Water turbulence elicited large, rapid contractions of the longitudinal body musculature which did not habituate or fatigue. Induced water turbulence at frequencies higher than 3/min inhibited spontaneous movements, resulting in a progressive reduction in contraction amplitude and, eventually (30/min), the abolition of any response to water movement. The neurotoxin tetrodotoxin failed to modify worm activity. Excitatory responses from both intact worms and strip preparations were obtained with 5-hydroxytryptamine, dopamine and noradrenaline, but aminergic antagonists failed to block their effects. Atropine stimulated contractility, whereas the effects of acetylcholine or carbachol were inconsistent. Nicotine increased muscle tone but the effect was unaltered by atropine, mecamylamine or d–tubocurarine. Muscarine, hemicholinium, neostigmine and eserine were without apparent effect.

Keywords

Diclidophora merlangimonogeneanmotilityaminergic drugscholinergic drugs
Type
Research Article
Information
Parasitology , Volume 98 , Issue 1 , February 1989 , pp. 85 - 93
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Erzen, I. & Brzin, M. (1979). Cholinergic mechanisms in Planaria torva. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 64C, 207–16.Google Scholar
Frady, C. H. & Knapp, S. E. (1967). A radioisotopic assay of acetylcholinesterase in Fasciola hepatica. Journal of Parasitology 53, 298–302.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gainer, H. & Brownstein, M. J. (1981). Neuropeptides. In Basic Neurochemistry (ed. Siegel, G. J. R., Albers, W., Agranoft, B. W. and Katzman, R.), pp. 269–96. Boston: Little Brown.Google Scholar
Halton, D. W. (1979). The surface topography of a monogenean, Diclidophora merlangi revealed by scanning electron microscopy. Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 61, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W. & Arme, C. (1971). In vitro technique for detecting tegument damage in Diclidophora merlangi: possible screening method for selection of undamaged tissues or organisms prior to physiological investigation. Experimental Parasitology 30, 54–7.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Halton, D. W., Maule, A. G., Johnston, C. F. & Fairweather, I. (1987). Occurrence of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin) in the nervous system of a monogenean, Diclidophora merlangi. Parasitology Research 74, 151–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Halton, D. W. & Morris, G. P. (1969). Occurrence of cholinesterase and ciliated sensory structures in a fish gill fluke, Diclidophora merlangi (Trematoda: Monogenea). Zeitschrift für Parasitenkunde 33, 21–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmes, S. D. & Fairweather, I. (1984). Fasciola hepatica: The effects of neuropharmacological agents upon in vitro motility. Experimental Parasitology 58, 194–208.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hughes, G. M. & Shelton, G. (1958). The mechanism of gill ventilation in three freshwater teleosts. Journal of Experimental Biology 35, 807–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keenan, L. & Koopowitz, H. (1982). Physiology and in situ identification of putative aminergic neurotransmitters in the nervous system of Gyrocotyle fimbriata, a parasitic flatworm. Journal of Neurobiology 13, 9–21.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Koopowitz, H., Keenan, L. & Bernardo, K. (1979). Primitive nervous systems: Electrophysiology of inhibitory events in flatworm nerve cords. Journal of Neurobiology 10, 383–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Llewellyn, J. (1958). The adhesive mechanisms of monogenetic trematodes: the attachment of species of the Diclidophoridae to the gills of gadoid fishes. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 37, 67–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mansour, T. E. (1984). Serotonin receptors in parasitic worms. Advances in Parasitology 23, 1–36.Google ScholarPubMed
Muneoka, Y., Ichimura, Y., Shiba, Y. & Kanno, Y. (1981). Mechanical responses of the body wall strips of an Echiuroid worm, Urechis unicinctus, to electrical stimulation, cholinergic agents and amino acids. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 69C, 171–7.Google Scholar
Pedigo, W. W., Yamamura, H. I. & Nelson, D. L. (1981). Discrimination of multiple [3H]5-hydroxytryptamine binding sites by the neuroleptic spiperone in rat brain. Journal of Neurochemistry 36, 220–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peroutka, S. J. & Snyder, S. H. (1979). Multiple serotonin receptors: differential binding of [3H]serotonin, [3H]lysergic acid diethylamide and [3H]spiroperidol. Molecular Pharmacology 16, 687–99.Google Scholar
Probert, A. J. & Durrani, M. S. (1977). Fasciola hepatica and Fasciola gigantica: Total cholinesterase characteristics and effects of specific inhibitors. Experimental Parasitology 42, 203–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prosser, C. L. (1973). Oxygen: respiration and metabolism. In Comparative Animal Physiology (ed. Prosser, C. L.), 3rd edn. pp. 165–211. Philadelphia, London, Toronto: W. B. Saunders Company.Google Scholar
Semeyn, D. R., Pax, R. A. & Bennett, J. L. (1982). Surface electrical activity from Schistosoma mansoni: a sensitive measure of drug action. Journal of Parasitology 68, 353–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smyth, J. D. & Halton, D. W. (1983). The Physiology of Trematodes, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Sukhdeo, S. C., Sangster, N. C. & Mettrick, D. F. (1986). Effects of cholinergic drugs on longitudinal muscle contractions of Fasciola hepatica. Journal of Parasitology 72, 858–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tomosky, T. K., Bennett, J. L. & Bueding, E. (1974). Tryptaminergic and dopaminergic responses of Schistosoma mansoni. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 190, 260–71.Google ScholarPubMed
Tomosky-Sykes, T. K., Mueller, J. F. & Bueding, E. (1977). Effects of putative neurotransmitters on the motor activity of Spirometra mansonoides. Journal of Parasitology 63, 492–4.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walker, R. J. (1984 a). 5-hydroxytryptamine in invertebrates. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 89C, 231–5.Google Scholar
Walker, R. J. (1984 b). The pharmacology of serotonin in receptors in invertebrates. In Neuropharmacology of Serotonin (ed. Green, A. R.), pp. 366–408. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Weiss, B., Prozialeck, W. C. & Wallace, T. L. (1982). Interaction of drugs with calmodulin. Biochemical, pharmacological and clinical implications. Biochemical Pharmacology 31, 2217–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Willcockson, W. S. & Hillman, G. R. (1984). Drug effects on the 5-HT response of Schistosoma mansoni. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 77C, 199–203.Google ScholarPubMed