ReviewPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences2009
Evolution of phototaxis.
Review in Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers.
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Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 257 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evolution of complex organelles in ocelloid-bearing dinoflagellates.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Theory of cell body lensing and phototaxis sign reversal in "eyeless" mutants of Chlamydomonas.Physical review. E · 2026Article
- Motilitometer: A compact modular microscope for motility and photoresponse analysis of microorganisms.HardwareX · 2026Article
- Algal optics.Physical review. E · 2026Article
- A Versatile Strategy for Light-Driven Active Transport of Ions.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- The photophobic response in the apusomonad Podomonas kaiyoae is mediated by coordination of cilia and actin filaments.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Phototactic Decision-Making by Microalgae.Physical review letters · 2025Article
- Anisotropic fluorescence emission by diatoms modifies the underwater oceanic light field.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Physics of microbial taxis and behaviours in response to various physical stimuli.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2025Review
- Costs and benefits of phytoplankton motility.ArXiv · 2025Article
- A phototaxis assay to measure sublethal effects of pesticides on bees.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Light-regulated chloroplast morphodynamics in a single-celled dinoflagellate.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- C. elegans PPEF-type phosphatase (Retinal degeneration C ortholog) functions in diverse classes of cilia to regulate nematode behaviors.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Reinforcement learning of biomimetic navigation: a model problem for sperm chemotaxis.The European physical journal. E, Soft matter · 2024Article
- Phototaxis is a satiety-dependent behavioral sequence in Hydra vulgaris.The Journal of experimental biology · 2024Article
- Densitaxis: Active particle motion in density gradients.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Article
- Sudden phototactic reversal induced by hypochlorous acid exposure in the bioluminescent ostracod crustacean,microPublication biology · 2024Article
- Aberrant light sensing and motility in the green algaPlant signaling & behavior · 2023Article
- Taming the perils of photosynthesis by eukaryotes: constraints on endosymbiotic evolution in aquatic ecosystems.Communications biology · 2023Review
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Phototaxis in the broadest sense means positive or negative displacement along a light gradient or vector. Prokaryotes most often use a biased random walk strategy, employing type I sensory rhodopsin photoreceptors and two-component signalling to regulate flagellar reversal. This strategy only allows phototaxis along steep light gradients, as found in microbial mats or sediments. Some filamentous cyanobacteria evolved the ability to steer towards a light vector. Even these cyanobacteria, however, can only navigate in two dimensions, gliding on a surface. In contrast, eukaryotes evolved the capacity to follow a light vector in three dimensions in open water. This strategy requires a polarized organism with a stable form, helical swimming with cilia and a shading or focusing body adjacent to a light sensor to allow for discrimination of light direction. Such arrangement and the ability of three-dimensional phototactic navigation evolved at least eight times independently in eukaryotes. The origin of three-dimensional phototaxis often followed a transition from a benthic to a pelagic lifestyle and the acquisition of chloroplasts either via primary or secondary endosymbiosis. Based on our understanding of the mechanism of phototaxis in single-celled eukaryotes and animal larvae, it is possible to define a series of elementary evolutionary steps, each of potential selective advantage, which can lead to pelagic phototactic navigation. We can conclude that it is relatively easy to evolve phototaxis once cell polarity, ciliary swimming and a stable cell shape are present.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.