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Electrical and mechanical activities in the radula protractor of a mollusc,Rapana thomasiana

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Summary

  1. 1.

    The radula protractor ofRapana thomasiana consists of obliquely striated muscle fibers containing thick and thin filaments, and each fiber is surrounded by wide interfiber spaces.

  2. 2.

    The electrical response to indirect stimulation recorded by a sucrose gap method is the same in pattern with that obtained intracellularly. This suggests that all muscle fibers receive multiple innervation and respond to single nerve impulse synchronously.

  3. 3.

    The amplitude of excitatory junctional potential gradually increases with increase in stimulus intensity or duration. All-or-nothing type spike is not recorded with a single stimulation.

  4. 4.

    By repetitive stimulations, the facilitation and the summation of electrical and mechanical responses were produced. In some preparations a few spike-like potentials were evoked during stimulations.

  5. 5.

    The potentiation of electrical and mechanical responses to repetitive stimuli reaches the maximum at a frequency of 50/sec.

  6. 6.

    Effects of drugs suggest that the neuromuscular transmission is cholinergic.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, College of General Education, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan

    Makoto Kobayashi

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  1. Makoto Kobayashi
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Additional information

The author wishes to thank Dr. H. Irisawa for the use of his facilities and his encouragement, and Dr. A. Inaba for his valuable suggestions on the anatomy of the material. Thanks are also due to Mr. K. Otani for bis help in histological examination.

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Kobayashi, M. Electrical and mechanical activities in the radula protractor of a mollusc,Rapana thomasiana . J. Comp. Physiol. 78, 1–10 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696475

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00696475

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