Purple sea urchin metamorphosis controlled by histamine
Friday, April 27, 2012 - 10:31
in Biology & Nature
Now that hay fever season has started, sufferers are well aware of the effect of histamines. However it is easy to forget that histamine is also a neurotransmitter involved in controlling memories, regulating sleep, and controlling secretion of gastric acid. New research shows that for the purple sea urchin histamine is also responsible for controlling metamorphosis from a free swimming larval form to the spiny adult living on the sea floor.