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Published November 1969 | Published
Journal Article Open

Irradiation of Sperm Tails by Laser Microbeam

Abstract

1. Sea-urchin and starfish sperm tails were irradiated at pre-selected points along the flagellum and at pre-selected phases of the beat cycle by means of a pulsed ruby laser microbeam. Multiple-exposure dark-field photomicrographs were taken immediately before and after irradiation. The flagellum usually appeared to be broken at the irradiated point. 2. The portion of a flagellum between the head and the irradiated point continued for at least a few beats if its length was at least 25% of the length of the tail, and stopped immediately if it was shorter. 3. Bends already established beyond the irradiated point continued to propagate to the tip of the flagellum. Their propagation velocity generally decreased, and there were usually changes in other bend parameters. 4. No new bends ever developed beyond the irradiated point. 5. Irradiation within a bent region often completely eliminated that region.

Additional Information

© 1969 The Company of Biologists Ltd. Received 10 February 1969. This paper has been abstracted from part of a Ph.D. thesis presented to the California Institute of Technology. I am indebted to Professor C. J. Brokaw for guidance during the course of these experiments, and for generous criticism of the first draft of this paper. This work was supported by U.S. Public Health Service Training Grant 5 TI GM 86 and U.S. Public Health Service Grants GM 6965 and GM 14613.

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Created:
August 19, 2023
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October 18, 2023