Morphogenetic Events in Normal and Synchronously Dividing Tetrahymena

Development ◽  
1959 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-256
Author(s):  
Norman E. Williams ◽  
Otto H. Scherbaum

Synchronous cell-division has been induced in mass cultures of the small ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena pyriformis (Scherbaum & Zeuthen, 1954). While it is known that cells grow in a characteristic way during the synchronizing treatment the effect on the morphogenetic events associated with the cell cycle is not clear. Studies in ciliate morphogenesis generally have established the central position of the ciliary basal body, or kinetosome, in developmental processes. The kinetosomes are believed to be self-duplicating structures, the kinetosomal population of a daughter cell arising directly by kinetosomal reproduction in the parent cell. The species-specific pattern of the ectoplasmic cortex is largely a matter of the distribution of kinetosomes. Further, the kinetosomes appear to function either as building blocks or ‘local organizers’ in most, if not all, structural syntheses occurring in the cortex, i.e. in the production cilia, cirri, membranelles, trichocysts, and other ciliate structures (see Weisz, 1954).

1987 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. 2855-2859 ◽  
Author(s):  
G W Grimes ◽  
R H Gavin

The ciliated protozoan Oxytricha fallax possesses multiple highly localized clusters of basal bodies and cilia, all of which are broken down and rebuilt during prefission morphogenesis-with one major exception. The adoral zone of membranelles (AZM) of the ciliate oral apparatus contains approximately 1,500-2,000 basal bodies and cilia, and it is the only compound ciliary structure that is passed morphologically intact to one daughter cell at each cell division. By labeling all proteins in cells, and then picking the one daughter cell possessing the original labeled AZM, we could then evaluate whether or not the ciliary proteins of the AZM were diluted (i.e., either by degradation to constituent amino acids or by subunit exchange) during cell division. Autoradiographic analysis demonstrated that the label was highly conserved in the AZM (i.e., we saw no evidence of turnover), and electrophoretic data illustrate that at least one of the proteins of the AZM is tubulin. We, therefore, conclude that for at least some of the ciliary and basal body proteins of Oxytricha fallax, AZM morphological conservation is essentially equivalent to molecular conservation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 95 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. VIEIRA-DA-SILVA ◽  
F. ADEGA ◽  
H. GUEDES-PINTO ◽  
R. CHAVES

1990 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-302
Author(s):  
J.E. Honts ◽  
N.E. Williams

The cortex of the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena contains a number of fibrous elements, including a network of filaments that pervades the feeding organelle of this organism. The cluster of polypeptides (79–89K; K = 10(3) Mr) in Tetrahymena pyriformis GL-C that constitute these filaments has been purified by in vitro assembly after solubilization in 1.0 M KI. Four distinct sets of these polypeptides, designated ‘tetrins’, have been shown to be distinguishable from each other by immunochemical and biochemical criteria. The smallest filaments reassembled in vitro were 3–4 nm in diameter and these fine filaments were seen to be bundled together into thicker strands of varying diameters, similar to those within the cell. The thicker filament bundles were clearly distinguishable from intermediate filaments, but fine filaments in these bundles were superficially similar to the 2–5 nm filaments described as microtubule-associated proteins in other organisms. The ultrastructure of the tetrin filaments localized within the feeding organelle reveals a substantial presence of these filaments apart from microtubules. In addition, circular dichroism measurements indicate a relatively low alpha-helical content for these filaments and suggest that the tetrins may be substantially different from other fine filament proteins such as the tektins and giardins.


1975 ◽  
Vol 67 (3) ◽  
pp. 518-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
I L Cameron ◽  
N C Bols

The ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena pyriformis strain GL-C, has been used to study the effect of cell population density during starvation on the synchrony obtained after refeeding and on the number of cells arrested in G2 phase of the cell cycle. At high cell densities two peaks of division indices were observed after refeeding while only one was observed at low cell densities. Cell division began earlier in cultures starved at high cell densities. Most importantly, the proportion of cells in G2 was considerably higher in populations starved at high cell densities. When tritiated thymidine was present during the refeeding period, radioautographs of cell samples at different times showed that the first cells to exhibit division furrows contained unlabeled nuclei. The first peak in the division index after refeeding was observed only at higher cell densities and is attributed to the cells arrested in G2. These results suggest that Tetrahymena is an excellent organism to study the concept of resting stages in the cell cycle and their control.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4129-4146
Author(s):  
Leonardo G. de Lima ◽  
Stacey L. Hanlon ◽  
Jennifer L. Gerton

Satellite DNAs (satDNAs) are a ubiquitous feature of eukaryotic genomes and are usually the major components of constitutive heterochromatin. The 1.688 satDNA, also known as the 359 bp satellite, is one of the most abundant repetitive sequences in Drosophila melanogaster and has been linked to several different biological functions. We investigated the presence and evolution of the 1.688 satDNA in 16 Drosophila genomes. We find that the 1.688 satDNA family is much more ancient than previously appreciated, being shared among part of the melanogaster group that diverged from a common ancestor ∼27 Mya. We found that the 1.688 satDNA family has two major subfamilies spread throughout Drosophila phylogeny (∼360 bp and ∼190 bp). Phylogenetic analysis of ∼10,000 repeats extracted from 14 of the species revealed that the 1.688 satDNA family is present within heterochromatin and euchromatin. A high number of euchromatic repeats are gene proximal, suggesting the potential for local gene regulation. Notably, heterochromatic copies display concerted evolution and a species-specific pattern, whereas euchromatic repeats display a more typical evolutionary pattern, suggesting that chromatin domains may influence the evolution of these sequences. Overall, our data indicate the 1.688 satDNA as the most perduring satDNA family described in Drosophila phylogeny to date. Our study provides a strong foundation for future work on the functional roles of 1.688 satDNA across many Drosophila species.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 742-749
Author(s):  
E. Robledo-Leal ◽  
L. G. Rivera-Morales ◽  
M. P. Sangorrín ◽  
G. M. González ◽  
G. Ramos-Alfano ◽  
...  

Abstract Although invasive infections and mortality caused by Candida species are increasing among compromised patients, resistance to common antifungal agents is also an increasing problem. We analyzed 60 yeasts isolated from patients with invasive candidiasis using a PCR/RFLP strategy based on the internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) region to identify different Candida pathogenic species. PCR analysis was performed from genomic DNA with a primer pair of the ITS2-5.8S rDNA region. PCR-positive samples were characterized by RFLP. Restriction resulted in 23 isolates identified as C. albicans using AlwI, 24 isolates as C. parapsilosis using RsaI, and 13 as C. tropicalis using XmaI. Then, a group of all isolates were evaluated for their susceptibility to a panel of previously described killer yeasts, resulting in 75% being susceptible to at least one killer yeast while the remaining were not inhibited by any strain. C. albicans was the most susceptible group while C. tropicalis had the fewest inhibitions. No species-specific pattern of inhibition was obtained with this panel of killer yeasts. Metschnikowia pulcherrima, Pichia kluyveri and Wickerhamomyces anomalus were the strains that inhibited the most isolates of Candida spp.


Crustaceana ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 87 (3) ◽  
pp. 364-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daichi Arima ◽  
Atsushi Yamaguchi ◽  
Yoshiyuki Abe ◽  
Kohei Matsuno ◽  
Rui Saito ◽  
...  

Seasonal changes in body size (prosome length: PL) and oil sac volume (OSV) of the three most numerically abundant copepods in Ishikari Bay, northern Sea of Japan, Paracalanus parvus (Claus, 1863), Pseudocalanus newmani Frost, 1989 and Oithona similis Claus, 1866, were studied using monthly samples collected through vertical hauls of a 100-μm mesh NORPAC net from March, 2001 to May, 2002. Seasonal changes in PL were common for the three species and were more pronounced during a cold spring. PL was negatively correlated with temperature, and this relationship was described well using the Bělehrádek equation. Seasonal changes in OSV exhibited a species-specific pattern, i.e., OSV was greater during a warm summer for P. parvus and was greater during a cold spring for P. newmani and O. similis. The OSV peak period corresponded with the optimal thermal season of each species. The relative OSV to prosome volume of the small copepods (0.6-0.8%) was substantially lower than that of the large copepods (20-32%). These facts suggest that the oil sac of small copepods is not used for overwintering or diapauses or during periods of food scarcity, but is instead used as the primary energy source for reproduction, which occurs during the optimum thermal season of each species.


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