geotaxis

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Related to geotaxis: thermotaxis

geotaxis

[je″o-tak´sis]

taxis in response to gravity; movement influenced by gravity.

ge·o·tax·is

(jē'ō-tak'sis),

A form of positive barotaxis in which there is a tendency to growth or movement toward or into the earth.

Synonym(s): geotropism

[geo- + G. taxis, orderly arrangement]

geotaxis

(jē′ō-tăk′sĭs)

Movement of a motile organism using the earth's gravity for orientation.

ge′o·tac′tic (-tĭk) adj.

ge′o·tac′ti·cal·ly adv.

geotaxis

a type of animal movement (not growth) in which the body becomes orientated in relation to the force of gravity. For example, fruit flies exhibit negative geotaxis, moving upwards in the culture bottle, away from the gravitational force.

geotaxis

see geotropism.

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References in periodicals archive ?

Because manipulation of the parasite depends on both acanthocephalan species and developmental stage, only individuals harboring Pomphorhynchus tereticollis (for the phototaxis and refuge use tests) and Polymorphus minutus (for the geotaxis tests) parasites at the cystacanth stage were retained (hereafter referred as "parasitized" individuals).

a) Locomotor ability of flies was analyzed by negative geotaxis after seven days of exposure to coconut oil enriched diet (0%, 10%, and 20%).

High-Fat Diet Induces Oxidative Stress and MPK2 and HSP83 Gene Expression in Drosophila melanogaster

All of the animals that displayed a consistent sign of geotaxis during the tilting experiments and were used for analysis of beat frequencies were negatively geotactic.

Functional consequences of the asymmetric architecture of the ctenophore statocyst

This interpretation is supported by the work of Rice (1985) and Rice and Salt (1988, 1990) who selected on multifarious habitat selection (phototaxis, geotaxis, and chemotaxis as well as developmental time) under conditions of maximal gene flow between divergently selected populations, and tested for the development of reproductive isolation as a correlated response.

Laboratory experiments on speciation: what have we learned in 40 years?

An important functional question is whether these asymmetries of statolith morphology and orientation with respect to the sagittal and tentacular body planes affect the function of the statocyst during geotaxis.

Formation of the statolith in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi

To determine whether descending movements resulted from passive sinking or active swimming due to either negative phototaxis or positive geotaxis, we compared speed of movement for dark-adapted cercariae with the speed of cercariae that were anesthetized.

Comparative photobehavior of marine cercariae with differing secondary host preferences

Since phyllosoma larvae did not display a negative phototaxis to low light intensities, it is likely that the descent results from either a sinking response or positive geotaxis.

Proximate control of diel vertical migration in phyllosoma larvae of the Caribbean spiny lobster panulirus argus

Zoeae show a negative geotaxis in darkness, in which they ascend.

Larval biology of the crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii (Gould): a synthesis

We have observed that larvae in culture exhibit positive geotaxis, a behavioral tendency that would contribute to their apparently limited dispersal (Reitzel, Darling, Sullivan, and Finnerty, unpubl.

Genomic survey of candidate stress-response genes in the estuarine anemone Nematostella vectensis

2]-deficient water, the animal displays negative geotaxis and moves to the water surface to breathe air.

Comparative study of visuo-vestibular conditioning in Lymnaea stagnalis

Negative geotaxis in sea urchin larvae: a possible role of mechanoreception in the late stages of development.

Patterns in early embryonic motility: effects of size and environmental temperature on vertical velocities of sinking and swimming echinoid blastulae

1997) provided experimental evidence that differential weighting, caused by the presence of spicules at the posterior end in some larvae, is correlated with positive geotaxis and rheotaxis.