Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026

Live Imaging of Nicotine Induced Calcium Signaling and Neurotransmitter Release Along Ventral Hippocampal Axons
Published on: June 24, 2015
The synthesis of acetylcholine by plants
Abstract:
Choline acetyltransferase was demonstrated in nettles (Urtica dioica), peas (Pisum sativum), spinach (Spinacia oleracea), sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and blue--green algae by using a Sepharose--CoASH affinity column. The column effected a 1500-fold purification of the enzyme from nettle homogenates and was required for demonstrating activity in the other higher plants. Demonstration of the enzyme in blue-green algae suggests that acetylcholine was a biochemical necessity in the earliest photosynthetic organisms.
Related Concept Videos
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...
Cholinergic Neurons: Neurotransmission
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Chemistry and Structure-Activity Relationship
The direct-acting...
Direct-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Pharmacokinetics
Indirect-Acting Cholinergic Agonists: Mechanism of Action
Reversible inhibitors like edrophonium bind to a specific part of the enzyme called the anionic catalytic site. They form noncovalent bonds, which means they are not strongly attached to the enzyme. This creates a temporary and less stable enzyme–inhibitor complex, leading to...
Chemical Synapses
Because chemical synapses depend on the release of neurotransmitter molecules from synaptic vesicles to pass on their signal, there is an approximately one millisecond delay between when the axon potential reaches the presynaptic terminal and when the neurotransmitter leads to opening of postsynaptic ion channels. Additionally, this signaling is...

