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Spasmoneme
A myoneme (or spasmoneme) is a contractile structure found in some eukaryotic single-celled organisms, particularly ''Vorticella''. It consists of a series of protein filaments that shorten rapidly upon exposure to calcium. Although the shortening can be up to 100 lengths per second, faster than any muscle, the relaxation time is several seconds (compared to approximately one tenth of a second for muscle). The myonemes of Acantharea The Acantharea (Acantharia) are a group of radiolarian protozoa, distinguished mainly by their strontium sulfate skeletons. Acantharians are heterotrophic marine microplankton that range in size from about 200 microns in diameter up to several ... also display slow contraction and undulation movements.{{cite journal, last=Febvre, first=Jean, title=The Myomene of the Acantharia (Protozoa): a new model of cellular motility, journal=BioSystems, year=1981, volume=14, issue=3-4, pages=327–336, doi=10.1016/0303-2647(81)90039-3 References Cell biolo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vorticella
''Vorticella'' is a genus of bell-shaped ciliates that have stalks to attach themselves to substrates. The stalks have contractile myonemes, allowing them to pull the cell body against substrates. The formation of the stalk happens after the free-swimming stage. Etymology The organism is named ''Vorticella'' due to the beating cilia creating whirlpools, or vortices. It is also known as the “Bell Animalcule” due to its bell-shaped body. History ''Vorticella'' was first described by Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in a letter dated October 9, 1676. Leeuwenhoek thought that ''Vorticella'' had two horns moving like horse ears near the oral part, which turned out to be oral cilia beating to create water flow. In 1755, German miniature painter August Johann Rösel described ''Vorticella'', which was named ''Hydra convallaria'' by Linnaeus in 1758. However, in 1767, it was renamed ''Vorticella convallaria''. Otto Friedrich Müller listed 127 species of ''Vorticella'' in 1786, but many ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eukaryotic
Eukaryotes () are organisms whose cells have a nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the three domains of life. Bacteria and Archaea (both prokaryotes) make up the other two domains. The eukaryotes are usually now regarded as having emerged in the Archaea or as a sister of the Asgard archaea. This implies that there are only two domains of life, Bacteria and Archaea, with eukaryotes incorporated among archaea. Eukaryotes represent a small minority of the number of organisms, but, due to their generally much larger size, their collective global biomass is estimated to be about equal to that of prokaryotes. Eukaryotes emerged approximately 2.3–1.8 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic eon, likely as flagellated phagotrophs. Their name comes from the Greek εὖ (''eu'', "well" or "good") and κάρυον (''karyon'', "nut" or "kernel"). Euka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protein Filament
In biology, a protein filament is a long chain of protein monomers, such as those found in hair, muscle, or in flagella. Protein filaments form together to make the cytoskeleton of the cell. They are often bundled together to provide support, strength, and rigidity to the cell. When the filaments are packed up together, they are able to form three different cellular parts. The three major classes of protein filaments that make up the cytoskeleton include: actin filaments, microtubules and intermediate filaments. Cellular types Microfilaments Compared to the other parts of the cytoskeletons, the microfilaments contain the thinnest filaments, with a diameter of approximately 7 nm. Microfilaments are part of the cytoskeleton that are composed of protein called actin. Two strands of actin intertwined together form a filamentous structure allowing for the movement of motor proteins. Microfilaments can either occur in the monomeric G-actin or filamentous F-actin. Microfilamen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Calcium
Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to its heavier homologues strontium and barium. It is the fifth most abundant element in Earth's crust, and the third most abundant metal, after iron and aluminium. The most common calcium compound on Earth is calcium carbonate, found in limestone and the fossilised remnants of early sea life; gypsum, anhydrite, fluorite, and apatite are also sources of calcium. The name derives from Latin ''calx'' "lime", which was obtained from heating limestone. Some calcium compounds were known to the ancients, though their chemistry was unknown until the seventeenth century. Pure calcium was isolated in 1808 via electrolysis of its oxide by Humphry Davy, who named the element. Calcium compounds are widely used in many industries: in foods and pharma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Relaxation Time
In the physical sciences, relaxation usually means the return of a perturbed system into equilibrium. Each relaxation process can be categorized by a relaxation time τ. The simplest theoretical description of relaxation as function of time ''t'' is an exponential law (exponential decay). In simple linear systems Mechanics: Damped unforced oscillator Let the homogeneous differential equation: :m\frac+\gamma\frac+ky=0 model damped unforced oscillations of a weight on a spring. The displacement will then be of the form y(t) = A e^ \cos(\mu t - \delta). The constant T (=2m/\gamma) is called the relaxation time of the system and the constant μ is the quasi-frequency. Electronics: RC circuit In an RC circuit containing a charged capacitor and a resistor, the voltage decays exponentially: : V(t)=V_0 e^ \ , The constant \tau = RC\ is called the ''relaxation time'' or RC time constant of the circuit. A nonlinear oscillator circuit which generates a repeating waveform by the r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acantharea
The Acantharea (Acantharia) are a group of radiolarian protozoa, distinguished mainly by their strontium sulfate skeletons. Acantharians are heterotrophic marine microplankton that range in size from about 200 microns in diameter up to several millimeters. Some acantharians have photosynthetic endosymbionts and hence are considered mixotrophs. Morphology Acantharian skeletons are composed of strontium sulfate, SrSO4, in the form of mineral celestine crystal. Celestine is named for the delicate blue colour of its crystals, and is the heaviest mineral in the ocean. The denseness of their celestite ensures acantharian shells function as mineral ballast, resulting in fast sedimentation to bathypelagic depths. High settling fluxes of acantharian cysts have been observed at times in the Iceland Basin and the Southern Ocean, as much as half of the total gravitational organic carbon flux. Material was copied from this source, which is available under Creative Commons Attribution 4 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
