Directional change of ciliary beat effected with Mg2+ in Paramecium.

Two types of Triton X-100 extracted model of Paramecium caudatum were prepared and effects of the ionic compositions of the reactivating medium on the swimming behaviour of the extracted models were examined. Type I, prepared by the method of Naitoh and Keneko, did not change swimming direction depending on the concentrations of Mg2+ and K+ in the reactivating medium. Type II, prepared by a different method, however, reversed the swimming direction depending on the concentrations of Mg2+ and K+ in the reactivating medium, even when the concentration of Ca2+ was kept at an extremely low level (below 10-8M). Decreasing the concentration of Mb2+ induced the type II model to swim backwards. Intracellular injection of EDTA into a live paramecium cell induced reversal of the direction of ciliary beat. The concentration of Mg2+ at which the reversal of swimming direction occurred varied with the concentration of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in a manner which suggested that the concentration of free ATP4- might be the critical determinant of swimming direction.