Chemically induced metamorphosis of polychaete larvae in both the laboratory and ocean environment.

Planktonic larvae of the marine polychaetePhragmatopoma californica preferentially attach to substrata and metamorphose to the adult form upon contact with cement in tubes built by conspecifics. This gregarious settlement and metamorphosis contributes to the formation of large aggregations or reefs. Larvae also metamorphose upon contact with 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol (DBMP), a possible aromatic analog of cross-linked dihydrox-yphenylalanine (DOPA) residues (present in the polyphenolic protein cement as 2.6% of the amino acid residues). Morphogenesis occurs in the laboratory when larvae are exposed to DBMP either adsorbed to solid surfaces or when dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to render it soluble in seawater. Larvae in the ocean were induced to settle and metamorphose on plates coated with DBMP prior to their deployment in the ocean. This is the first report in which a defined organic molecule, identified as an inducer (or precursor to an inducer) of larval settlement and metamorphosis in the laboratory, has been shown to induce these processes in the ocean. Both forskolin and isobutylmethylxanlhine (IBMX) induce metamorphosis ofP. californica larvae, presumably by causing increases in intracellular cyclic AMP (cAMP). A discussion of the pathway controlling chemically mediated metamorphosis and evidence suggesting the possible role of cAMP in the process are presented. Other compounds known to increase intracellular cAMP levels, including arachidonic, linoleic, and palmitoleic acids, found by other workers to induce settlement and metamorphosis ofP. californica, may exert this activity by direct modification of internal cAMP levels in the larvae.