Negative phototropism in Vaucheria terrestris regulated by calcium, 3: The role of calcium characterized by use of a high-power argon-ion laser as the source of unilateral blue light

A tip-growing Xanthophycean algal coenocyte, Vaucheria terrestris sensu Gotz, is able to change the sign of its phototropic response from positive to negative as a result of its ability to sense the fluence rate (= intensity) of unilateral blue light (BL). The mechanism that determines the sign of phototropism was investigated using a high-power argon-ion laser (457.9 nm) as a source of very strong unilateral BL. The fluence-response relationship was determined by changing both the fluence rate and the duration of irradiation. Positive phototropic bending was induced when the fluence rate of BL from the laser was below 60 W m-2. The positive bending obeyed the reciprocity law and was not affected by the concentrations of external Ca2+ ions between 0.4 mM and 4.4 mM. The positive curvature decreased when the alga was exposed to aunilateral pulse of BL with a duration of 10-300 s at fluence rates higher than 60 W m-2. The alga finally showed a deep negative curvature when either the fluence rate or the duration of irradiation was further increased. The inversion of the phototropic response and development of the negative phototropic response was greatly enhanced in the presence of 4.4 mM Ca2+ ions. However, the mechanism that determine the sign of phototropism seemed to require a BL pulse of longer than several seconds, even when the fluence rate was sufficiently high. The role of cytoplasmic Ca2+ ions in positive and negative phototropic responses is discussed