The Journal of Cell Biology, Vol 72, 502-505, Copyright © 1977 by The Rockefeller University Press
Ca++ regulation in caffeine-derived microplasmodia of Physarum polycephalum
LM Matthews Jr
Caffeine-derived microplasmodia possess a Ca++-sequestering system which
can initiate motility. The experiments presented here suggest that this
system is membranous and nonmitochondrial in nature. Therefore, it is
proposed that the shuttle streaming in the plasmodium is controlled by the
localized release and uptake of free Ca++ from an intracellular storage
system analogous to the sarcoplasmic reticulum.