Simultaneous oscillations of Ca2+ efflux and tension generation in the permealized plasmodial strand of Physarum.

Calcium is now generally thought to play a key role in regulating a variety of cellular movements. When the plasmodium of Physarum polycephalum was treated with the calcium-ionophore A23187 or the quasi-ionophore amphotericin B, Ca2+ leaked out. Ca2+ efflux into the ambient solution from the plasmodial strand segment was measured by the luminescence of a photoprotein aequorin, and the tensile force production was recorded simultaneously. Ca2+ efflux oscillated with the same period as the cycle of tension generation in the strand, but the phase of cyclic changes in Ca2+ efflux was opposite to that of tension generation. That is, Ca2+ efflux fell in the increasing tension phase and rose in the decreasing tension phase. Cyclic changes in efflux of Ca2+ are provisionally interpreted as reflecting corresponding changes in concentrations of free Ca2+ in the cytoplasm.