The Cell Surface of Paramecium

Ehret, Charles F.; Powers, E. L.

doi:10.1016/s0074-7696(08)62729-1

Cited by 81 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…HE fine structure of Paramecium cortex is now well under-T stood. There have been many studies using ultrathin sections and negatively stained or shadowed pellicle fragments, that have given a good idea of the complex arrangement of different cortex constituents in this ciliate (1,4,5,12). Since freeze-etching was introduced by Steere (15) and perfected by Moor et al ( 9 ) , numerous authors have been able to observe new fine-structural details of different organisms by using this method.…”

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confidence: 99%

Pellicle of Paramecium caudatum as Revealed by Freeze Etching

Janisch

1972

The Journal of Protozoology

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SYNOPSIS. Freeze etching study of Paramecium caudatum surface reveals a regular pattern formed by depressions equipped with a single or paired cilia. This picture is consistent with the generally accepted concept of Paramecium cortex based on conventional methods of study. The surface of the ciliate is covered with small globular particles -14 nm in diameter, which have been found also on the plasma membrane of other cells. In the areas where the tips of trichocysts are attached to the pellicle, the globular particles are arranged into circles 0.4 pm in diameter. The whole surface of Paramecium is covered by a smooth thin layer which, always chipped off during fracturing, is detectable only after etching.Index Key Words: Paramecium caudatum ; pellicle; freeze-etching me hod ; electron microscopy. HE fine structure of Paramecium cortex is now well under-T stood. There have been many studies using ultrathin sections and negatively stained or shadowed pellicle fragments, that have given a good idea of the complex arrangement of different cortex constituents in this ciliate (1,4,5,12). Since freeze-etching was introduced by Steere (15) and perfected by Moor et al. ( 9 ) , numerous authors have been able to observe new fine-structural details of different organisms by using this method. In the present communication we report observations on the cortical structure of Paramecium caudatum as revealed by the freeze-etching technic. MATERIALS AND METHODS P . caudatum was obtained from hay infusion cultures con-taining Aerobacter aerogenes. The ciliates were washed 3 times in tap water and then pelleted by low-speed centrifugation. A 1 mm drop of concentrated suspension was placed on a 3 mm copper grid and immediately frozen in liquid freon or nitrogen. The frozen drop was fractured in the Balzers apparatus BA 360 M. A carbon-platinum replica was prepared after 1 min etching. The replicas were treated with 70% sulphuric acid, Eau de Javelle, and washed in distilled water. They were then picked up on Formvar-coated grids. The preparations were examined with a Tesla BS 242 D type electron microscope. In all micrographs shadows are shown in white and the direction of shadowing is indicated by encircled arrows. RESULTSThe surface pattern of P. caudatum cortex as revealed by the freeze-etching method is consistent with the generally known characteristics of the surface structures in this species as revealed by conventional methods, especially the ultrathin section technic. The surface pattern is formed by regular depressions equipped with cilia that emerge singly or in pairs from the center of each depression.The entire surface of the ciliate is covered by a smooth, thin layer which is chipped off during the process of fracturing so that its residual parts along the base of the pellicle are exposed only after etching (Figs.

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Pellicle of Paramecium caudatum as Revealed by Freeze Etching

Janisch

1972

The Journal of Protozoology

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“…According to the first electron microscopic observations of those structures (Metz, 1953;Sedar, 1955), the bundle fibrillar structure morphostructurally corresponds to the neuronemes or kinetodesmes, but there was no synapse-like connection observed between them in the pioneer works, while the other workers (Randall, 1958;Ehret, 1959;Yagiu, 1959) argued that many fibrils from several neighbouring kinetosomes can be connected to the kinetodesmic fibril. Coordinated motor activity of the cilia (Párducz, 1954) with the high level of reactivity to the electrostatic and electrodynamic sources and monovalent cations until the reverse movement of the cilia, provided by the fibrillar ectoplasmic structures with the system acetylcholine + cholinesterase localized within the ROI (Seaman, 1951;Seaman, 1951a;Seaman,1952), indicates the presence of a kind of similarity between some network structures in Protozoa and their neurophysiological / electrophysiological homologs and "hierarchical prototypes" of the high level connectome self-assembly in Metazoa.…”

Section: From Kinetome and Argyrome Towards Kinetomics And Argyromicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is it possible to consider «kinetomics» and «argyromics» as novel trends of functional morphology and systems biology of parasitic and nonparasitic protozoa? a brief analytical review

Градов¹

2016

Journal of Biomedical Technologies

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Abstract. This paper considers argyrophilic (i.e. stained by the silver nitrate) fibrils visualized by the well-known Klein method and later called neuroformative system of Protozoa, or neuroformium. Klein described the excitation wave propagation and coordination of the cilia moving by this network, as well as the main role in localization of the peristomes and the ciliar apparatus on the topographic microanatomy map of Protozoa before and after the cell division. However, in early 1930-th the advanced staining techniques revealed two components in the above mentioned fibrill network with the similar morphobiochemical parameters (within the limits of the silver nitrate staining selectivity), one of which provides the mechanical stabilization of the Protozoa body (a number of Paramecium species were found to possess even a third selectivelystained fiber system). This resulted in the introduction of the term "argyrome" by Chatton in 1936 for the complex of the argentophilic fibrils and a term "cinetome" for the subpellicular infraciliature. It is therefore more appropriate to speak about "kinetomics" and "argyromics" rather than of a single "omics" for all the intracellular networks of Protozoa. We consider the principles of introduction of the novel "-omics" in modern science and from the above standpoint discuss whether it is possible to consider "kinetomics" and "argyromics" as the novel trends of functional morphology and systems biology of Protozoa.

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“…The number of 2BB and 1BB units was examined in these representative eight kineties ( Table 2). In these kineties, the mean number (+ SD) of 2BB, IBB, and total units per kinety was 27.60 2 3.45 (range 18-38), 6.67 2 1.83 (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12), and 34.27 ? 3.85 (25-43) (n = 160 kineties) respectively, although each kinety tended to contain slightly more units than its right-hand neighbor.…”

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Regional Differentiation of Cortical Structures and Their Reorganization during Cell Division in Paramecium trichium

Takahashi

Okubo

Hosoya

1998

J Eukaryotic Microbiology

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We observed the cell surface of Paramecium trichium using three different methods. A non‐dividing paramecium's cell surface consisted of three major regions outside of the oral apparatus: a) an oral groove region, with 2‐cilia‐2‐basal‐body (2C‐2BB) units; b) a posterior region, occupying 1/4 to 1/5 of the cell surface, with 1‐cilium‐l‐basal‐body (1C‐1BB) units; c) the remainder, with l‐cilium‐2‐basal‐body (1C‐2BB) units. Five kinds of region‐specific cortical reorganization occurred prior to cytokinesis: the 2C‐2BB and 1C‐1BB units were not duplicated, while the 1C‐2BB units were reorganized to 2C‐2BB, 1C‐2BB or 1C‐1BB units. These reorganizations of the cell surface progressed from the fission line to the anterior in the prospective anterior daughter cell, and to the posterior in the prospective posterior daughter cell, and bilaterally from the old and also newly developing oral apparatus in both daughter cells. In contrast, the development of cilia and their associated structures in each of the cortical units always progressed from posterior to anterior. The present work also showed that two fission lines began to develop bilaterally from the oral primordium, and then they joined to become a single fission line at the dorsal surface.

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The Cell Surface of Paramecium

Cited by 81 publications

References 22 publications

Pellicle of Paramecium caudatum as Revealed by Freeze Etching

Pellicle of Paramecium caudatum as Revealed by Freeze Etching

Is it possible to consider «kinetomics» and «argyromics» as novel trends of functional morphology and systems biology of parasitic and nonparasitic protozoa? a brief analytical review

Regional Differentiation of Cortical Structures and Their Reorganization during Cell Division in Paramecium trichium

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