Settlement of planulae of the Moon jellyfish Aurelia aurita onto hydrophilic polycarbonate plates modified by atmospheric plasma treatment.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 24465603.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0085569 and PMC identifier 3896380.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
It has been reported that planula larvae of some jellyfish prefer artificial substrates for settlement. This research focused on the relationship between the settlement of planulae and the wettability of artificial substrate surfaces. We used atmospheric plasmas to change the wettability of the surfaces of polycarbonate (PC) plates because plasma treatment has no chemical side effects. The treatment made the surfaces hydrophilic, as evidenced by the decrease of contact angle from 85° to 35°. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy revealed that the change of wettability of the PC plates could be attributed to N2, which was probably ionized in the air above the plates. Scanning electron microscopy revealed no difference in the surface morphology of the plates before and after plasma treatment. Results of bioassays using treated PC plates showed that planulae tended to preferentially settle on hydrophobic surfaces.
Medical subject headings
- Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
- Polycarboxylate Cement
- Scyphozoa