The Effect of the H-Ion Concentration on Protozoa, as Demonstrated by the Rate of Food Vacuole Formation in Colpidium

1931 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
SYLVIA M. MILLS
Keyword(s):  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Limiting Factors ◽  
Food Ingestion ◽  
Ciliary Movement ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Alkaline Side ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Alkaline Range ◽  
Rate Of Movement

1. The effect exerted by the pH of their medium on Colpidium is determined quantitatively by counting the average number of food vacuoles formed in a given time when Colpidium is supplied with Indian ink. 2. Graphs obtained by plotting the rate of feeding against the pH of the medium show a characteristic depression on the alkaline side of neutrality (pH 7.5-8.5), on a curve which otherwise rises steadily from pH 4.5 to a maximum at pH 6.0, and falls from here gradually through the alkaline range. 3. Methods for measuring the rate of movement of ciliates are described, the most practicable being those in which their galvanotropic and geotropic reactions are used to control the direction of the movement. The effect of changes in the pH of the medium on the rate of movement of Colpidium was found to correspond very closely to the effect of similar pHs on the rate of food ingestion. It is, therefore, suggested that changes in the rate of ciliary movement are largely responsible for changes in the rates of food ingestion. 4. Mucus, produced for food collection, and probably also present in the fluid in which the cilia are working, is shown to have a maximum viscosity at pH 8.0. It is suggested that the depression in the region of pH 8.0, seen in curves representing changes in the rates of feeding and movement with pH, indicate that the viscosity of the fluid in which the cilia are beating is one of the limiting factors in the rate of food ingestion through the range of pH occupied by the depression.

Feeding in Ciliated Protozoa

1974 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-401
Author(s):  
JOHN. A. KLOETZEL
Keyword(s):  
Cell Surface ◽  
Buccal Cavity ◽  
Surface Membrane ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Food Ingestion ◽  
Membrane Flow ◽  
Vacuole Membrane ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Lamellar Material

The ciliate Euplotes is able to expend a very large amount of membrane in the formation of food vacuoles. Calculations based on the rate of ingestion of the food organism Tetrahymena indicate that an amount of food vacuole membrane equivalent to approximately 50-150% of the total Euplotes cell surface area can be produced within 5-10 min. An aggregation of osmiophilic, membrane-limited ‘pharyngeal disks’ is found packed in the cytoplasm just beneath the cell surface membrane in the region of the cell mouth and cytopharynx. These disks, which can be seen also in living cells, have average dimensions of 2 µm diameter by 100 nm thickness, and contain tightly packed layers of a thin lamellar material. Electron micrographs have revealed the apparent fusion of the limiting membrane of disks with the cell's plasma membrane at the base of the gullet. The lamellar disk contents are thereby released to the exterior medium in the buccal cavity, where they form a loosely packed layer over the surface membrane. It is postulated that the pharyngeal disks represent a repository of preformed membrane for use in food vacuole formation. The disk contents may also play a role in food ingestion, although this is not well defined at present. The myeloid content of old food vacuoles is very similar to that of nearby disks in the cytoplasm, suggesting that the disks may form by pinching from shrinking food vacuoles during the digestive cycle. Thus a cycle of membrane flow is envisaged, with the pharyngeal disks (1) coalescing with the surface membrane during food vacuole formation, (2) reforming by pinching from these food vacuoles during digestion, and (3) migrating back to the oral region to serve as a membrane store for subsequent food vacuole formation.

scholarly journals Loss of endocytic capacity in aging Paramecium. The importance of cytoplasmic organelles.

1976 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 575-588 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Smith-Sonneborn ◽  
S R Rodermel
Keyword(s):  
Excretion Rate ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Cellular Aging ◽  
Critical Importance ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Cytoplasmic Organelles ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Excretion Rates

Aged cells have significantly fewer food vacuoles and ingest fewer bacteria than young cells. Loss of food vacuoles was explained by a decreasing difference in the food vacuole formation and excretion rates; the formation rate declined more rapidly than the excretion rate, approaching equivalence at 160 fissions, when the proportion of cells with no food vacuoles, in the presence of excess food, abruptly increased. A model for cellular aging is presented in which control of organelle numbers and cyclical interactions between the nucleus and cytoplasm may be of critical importance.

scholarly journals ADF/Cofilin Is Not Essential but Is Critically Important for Actin Activities during Phagocytosis in Tetrahymena thermophila

2013 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1080-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nanami Shiozaki ◽  
Kentaro Nakano ◽  
Yasuharu Kushida ◽  
Taro Q. P. Noguchi ◽  
Taro Q. P. Uyeda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Cellular Events ◽  
Food Vacuoles

ABSTRACT ADF/cofilin is a highly conserved actin-modulating protein. Reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton in vivo through severing and depolymerizing of F-actin by this protein is essential for various cellular events, such as endocytosis, phagocytosis, cytokinesis, and cell migration. We show that in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila , the ADF/cofilin homologue Adf73p associates with actin on nascent food vacuoles. Overexpression of Adf73p disrupted the proper localization of actin and inhibited the formation of food vacuoles. In vitro , recombinant Adf73p promoted the depolymerization of filaments made of T. thermophila actin (Act1p). Knockout cells lacking the ADF73 gene are viable but grow extremely slowly and have a severely decreased rate of food vacuole formation. Knockout cells have abnormal aggregates of actin in the cytoplasm. Surprisingly, unlike the case in animals and yeasts, in Tetrahymena , ADF/cofilin is not required for cytokinesis. Thus, the Tetrahymena model shows promise for future studies of the role of ADF/cofilin in vivo .

Dual capacity for nutrient uptake in Tetrahymena. V. Utilization of amino acids and proteins

1979 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 343-353
Author(s):  
E. Orias ◽  
L. Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Amino Acid Uptake ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Acid Uptake ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Carrier Mediated Transport ◽  
Food Vacuoles

We investigated the relative contributions of phagocytosis and plasma membrane transport to the uptake of amino acids and a protein (egg albumin) in amounts which allow Tetrahymena thermophila to grow and multiply. We used a mutant capable of indefinite growth without food vacuole formation (phagocytosis) and its wild type (phagocytosis-competent) isogenic parental strain. Our results suggest that phagocytosis is not required for free amino acid uptake, most or all of which can be attributed to carrier-mediated transport systems, apparently located on the plasma membrane. In contrast, phagocytosis is required for utilization of the protein. Proteins can supply required amino acids in amounts sufficient for growth only when food vacuoles are formed. We conclude that Tetrahymena thermophila either possesses no endocytic mechanisms at the cell surface other than food vacuole formation or, if it does, these putative mechanisms are not capable of nutritionally meaningful rates of protein uptake.

Exocytosis, endocytosis and membrane recycling in Tetrahymena thermophila

1988 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 515-520
Author(s):  
ARNO TIEDTKE ◽  
PETER HÜNSELER ◽  
JORGE FLORIN-CHRISTENSEN ◽  
MONICA FLORIN-CHRISTENSEN
Keyword(s):  
Cell Lines ◽  
Tetrahymena Thermophila ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Secondary Effect ◽  
Membrane Recycling ◽  
Acid Hydrolase ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Acid Hydrolases ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Food Vacuoles

Mutant and wild-type cell lines of Tetrahymena thermophila were used to investigate a possible connection between acid hydrolase secretion and the major processes through which membranes are recycled in this ciliated protozoon. These processes consist of food vacuole formation (endocytosis), and food vacuole egestion and mucocyst release (both exocytosis). We have found that a mutant (MS-1, see−) blocked in hydrolase secretion is not blocked in either food vacuole formation or egestion and that it has normal mucocyst exocytosis. Another line of experiments with wild-type cells showed also that hydrolase secretion and endocytosis are independent of each other. Thus, sucrose (0.1m) did not interfere with hydrolase secretion, but blocked food vacuole formation. Furthermore, release of acid hydrolases was selectively stimulated by dibucaine without any effect on food vacuole egestion. Finally, exocytosis of mucocysts could occur without simultaneous release of acid hydrolases, as when cells were exposed to (0.15M-NaCl, which evokes a massive secretory response of mucocysts. Our results demonstrate that formation and egestion of food vacuoles and exocytosis of mucocysts are unrelated to secretion of acid hydrolases. Furthermore, they suggest that secretion of acid hydrolases is not a secondary effect of membrane recycling through these processes.

scholarly journals THE ISOELECTRIC POINT OF RED BLOOD CELLS AND ITS RELATION TO AGGLUTINATION

1921 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calvin B. Coulter
Keyword(s):  
Red Blood Cells ◽  
Isoelectric Point ◽  
Blood Cells ◽  
Inorganic Ions ◽  
Immune Serum ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Normal Cells ◽  
Hydrogen Ion Concentration ◽  
Alkaline Side ◽  
Chlorine Ions

1. The movement of normal and sensitized red blood cells in the electric field is a function of the hydrogen ion concentration. The isoelectric point, at which no movement occurs, corresponds with pH 4.6. 2. On the alkaline side of the isoelectric point the charge carried is negative and increases with the alkalinity. On the acid side the charge is positive and increases with the acidity. 3. On the alkaline side at least the charge carried by sensitized cells is smaller and increases less rapidly with the alkalinity than the charge of normal cells. 4. Both normal and sensitized cells combine chemically with inorganic ions, and the isoelectric point is a turning point for this chemical behavior. On the acid side the cells combine with the hydrogen and chlorine ions, and in much larger amount than on the alkaline side; on the alkaline side the cells combine with a cation (Ba), and in larger amount than on the acid side. This behavior corresponds with that found by Loeb for gelatin. 5. The optimum for agglutination of normal cells is at pH 4.75, so that at this point the cells exist most nearly pure, or least combined with anion and cation. 6. The optimum for agglutination of sensitized cells is at pH 5.3. This point is probably connected with the optimum for flocculation of the immune serum body.

Intracellular distribution of lead in Tetrahymena during continuous exposure to the metal

1979 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 383-396
Author(s):  
J.R. Nilsson
Keyword(s):  
Cell Growth ◽  
Growth Medium ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Continuous Exposure ◽  
Organic Growth ◽  
Food Vacuoles ◽  
Entire Cell ◽  
Membrane Bound ◽  
Lag Period ◽  
High Concentrations

Lead acetate (0.1–0.2%) forms a precipitate with the organic growth medium. The Tetrahymena cells ingest this lead-containing precipitate and cell growth is resumed after a variable lag period. Ingested lead is observed as electron-dense material in food vacuoles. Soon after exposure, cytoplasmic lead (preserved with certain fixation only) is revealed as electron-dense particles in cilia and in a halo around digestive vacuoles. Later the lead particles pervade the entire cell but after the lag period they are confined to membrane-bound spaces. In dilute growth medium, high concentrations of lead inhibit food-vacuole formation and cell growth. Under these conditions lead is deposited in alveoli of the pellicle and is also found in autophagic vacuoles and other membrane-limited structures. The study has revealed that lead enters Tetrahymena through the membrane of digestive vacuoles and through the cell surface. The change in distribution of lead during the lag period indicates that a mechanism is activated for removal of lead into membrane-bound spaces. The final storage of lead seems to be in lysosomes.

scholarly journals A Study of Zooplankton Community in Dukan Lake, Kurdistan Region-Iraq, with a New Record of Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester (1880) Medusa (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa)

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 735-741 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baghdad Science Journal
Keyword(s):  
Similarity Index ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Zooplankton Community ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Hydrogen Ion Concentration ◽  
Alkaline Side ◽  
Physical And Chemical ◽  
First Time ◽  
Jaccard's Similarity Index ◽  
And Chemical Properties

A study of Zooplankton community has been carried out at four selected sites on Dukan Lake. Samples of water and zooplankton were collected monthly for the period from July 2015 to February 2016. Some physical and chemical properties of water were studied and the results showed that the air temperature were ranged from 0 to 36.16 °C, water temperature ranged from 2.83 to 34.66 °C, hydrogen ion concentration of studied sites were found to lie in alkaline side, it was ranged between 6.87 to 8.57, electrical conductivity ranged from 190.79 to 850.08 µs.cm­¹, turbidity ranged from 0.9-7.7 NTU, and dissolved oxygen from 3.3 to 6.8 mg.l-¹ while BOD5 were ranged from 0.53 to 34.66 mg.l-¹. Concerning to the zooplankton, 37 species were identified which belonged to Cladocera (48.38%), Copepod (43.28%), Rotifera (8.23%), Targigrada (0.08%) and Cnidaria (0.1%). The medusa of Craspedacusta sowerbii Lankester (1880) was recorded for the first time in Iraq. Regarding to zooplankton community, rotifer were ranged between 0 to 690.91 ind.m-3, Copepoda from 54.55 to 5927.27 ind.m-3 and Cladocera ranged from 18.18 to 6072.73 ind.m-3. According to Shanon-Weiner index, species diversity for zooplankton invertebrates was ranged from 0.325 to 1.091 bits/ind. Jaccard’s similarity index showed that the highest similarity was recorded between site (1) and site (4) with 40.74%.

Cytochalasin B: Aspects of Phagocytosis in Nutrient Uptake in Tetrahymena

1974 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 403-406
Author(s):  
ELSE K. HOFFMANN ◽  
L. RASMUSSEN ◽  
E. ZEUTHEN
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Uptake ◽  
Nutrient Medium ◽  
Cytochalasin B ◽  
Tetrahymena Pyriformis ◽  
Food Vacuole ◽  
Vacuole Formation ◽  
Proteose Peptone ◽  
High Concentrations

Cytochalasin B (37 µg per ml) reduces the rate of food vacuole formation, i.e. the rate of phagocytosis, in Tetrahymena pyriformis. Cytochalasin B in this concentration suppresses multiplication rates in a nutrient medium consisting of 2 % proteose peptone, but multiplication is unaffected if this medium is supplemented with glucose and high concentrations of nucleosides. Thus nutrients in high concentrations circumvent the necessity for phagocytosis in Tetrahymena.

scholarly journals AMPHOTERIC COLLOIDS

1918 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Loeb
Keyword(s):  
Isoelectric Point ◽  
Water Solubility ◽  
Biological Significance ◽  
Volumetric Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Hydrogen Ion ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Sharp Drop ◽  
Hydrogen Ion Concentration ◽  
Alkaline Side

1. It is shown by volumetric analysis that on the alkaline side from its isoelectric point gelatin combines with cations only, but not with anions; that on the more acid side from its isoelectric point it combines only with anions but not with cations; and that at the isoelectric point, pH = 4.7, it combines with neither anion nor cation. This confirms our statement made in a previous paper that gelatin can exist only as an anion on the alkaline side from its isoelectric point and only as a cation on the more acid side of its isoelectric point, and practically as neither anion nor cation at the isoelectric point. 2. Since at the isoelectric point gelatin (and probably amphoteric colloids generally) must give off any ion with which it was combined, the simplest method of obtaining amphoteric colloids approximately free from ionogenic impurities would seem to consist in bringing them to the hydrogen ion concentration characteristic of their isoelectric point (i.e., at which they migrate neither to the cathode nor anode of an electric field). 3. It is shown by volumetric analysis that when gelatin is in combination with a monovalent ion (Ag, Br, CNS), the curve representing the amount of ion-gelatin formed is approximately parallel to the curve for swelling, osmotic pressure, and viscosity. This fact proves that the influence of ions upon these properties is determined by the chemical or stoichiometrical and not by the "colloidal" condition of gelatin. 4. The sharp drop of these curves at the isoelectric point finds its explanation in an equal drop of the water solubility of pure gelatin, which is proved by the formation of a precipitate. It is not yet possible to state whether this drop of the solubility is merely due to lack of ionization of the gelatin or also to the formation of an insoluble tautomeric or polymeric compound of gelatin at the isoelectric point. 5. On account of this sudden drop slight changes in the hydrogen ion concentration have a considerably greater chemical and physical effect in the region of the isoelectric point than at some distance from this point. This fact may be of biological significance since a number of amphoteric colloids in the body seem to have their isoelectric point inside the range of the normal variation of the hydrogen ion concentration of blood, lymph, or cell sap. 6. Our experiments show that while a slight change in the hydrogen ion concentration increases the water solubility of gelatin near the isoelectric point, no increase in the solubility can be produced by treating gelatin at the isoelectric point with any other kind of monovalent or polyvalent ion; a fact apparently not in harmony with the adsorption theory of colloids, but in harmony with a chemical conception of proteins.

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