Microinjection at high copy number of plasmids containing only the coding region of a gene into the Paramecium somatic macronucleus led to a marked reduction in the expression of the corresponding endogenous gene(s). The silencing effect, which is stably maintained throughout vegetative growth, has been observed for all Paramecium genes examined so far: a single-copy gene (ND7), as well as memb...

The nucleotide sequence for 40,469 bp of the linear Paramecium aurelia mitochondrial (mt) genome is presented with the locations of the known genes, presumed ORFs, and their transcripts. Many of the genes commonly encoded in mt DNA of other organisms have been identified in the Paramecium mt genome but several unusual genes have been found. Ribosomal protein genes rps14, rps12, and rpl2 are clu...

Results achieved in the molecular biology of Paramecium have shed new light on its elaborate membrane trafficking system. Paramecium disposes not only of the standard routes (endoplasmic reticulum --> Golgi --> lysosomes or secretory vesicles; endo- and phagosomes --> lysosomes/digesting vacuoles), but also of some unique features, e.g. and elaborate phagocytic route with the cytoproct and memb...

1. The effects of KCN and iron salts on oxygen consumption has been studied in the cell of Paramecium caudatum by manometric methods. 2. KCN solutions of strengths from M/200 to M/10,000 have been shown to produce no decrease in oxygen consumption, but have in most cases produced a very slight increase in the respiration rate. 3. The pH values were found to have little or no effect on these res...

This paper presents the author’s research on the estimation of sensory information of a cell by using signal visualization. As a single-celled creature, the signal transduction between Paramecium’s interior and its surroundings through the plasma membrane is controlled by a logical sequence. The objective of this research is to develop a method in which this signal transduction within an organi...

Binding of (45)Ca by live Paramecium caudatum was determined under various external ionic conditions. It was found that calcium uptake was separable into at least two components, a rapid and a slow one. The rapid component was influenced by the presence of certain other ions in a manner which agrees with the law of mass action. It appears that an ion exchange system may be involved in a binding...

We previously reported that isolation of symbiotic Chlorella-like algae from the Florida strain of Hydra viridis induced replication of a virus (designated HVCV-1) in the algae. We now report that isolation of symbiotic Chlorella-like algae from four other sources of green hydra and one source of the protozoan Paramecium bursaria also induced virus synthesis. Algae from one of these hydra conta...

Kappas (bacterial symbionts containing R bodies) have been studied in 16 strains of Paramecium aurelia, syngens 2 and 4. All produce toxins capable of killing sensitive paramecia. The first major class, the 51 group (consisting of the kappas of strains 51, 116, and 298), has R bodies which, when the pH is lowered below 6-5, unwind reversibly from the inside to form a tight tube; the outside end...

Cells of Paramecium in the sexually immature period of the clonal life cycle contain a protein called immaturin, which represses mating activity when injected into sexually mature cells. The amount of immaturin at various stages of the immaturity period was examined by injecting cytoplasm from immature cells of one wild-type and two early mature mutant clones into mature cells of wild-type. The...

Understanding and quantifying the temperature dependence of population parameters, such as intrinsic growth rate and carrying capacity, is critical for predicting the ecological responses to environmental change. Many studies provide empirical estimates of such temperature dependencies, but a thorough investigation of the methods used to infer them has not been performed yet. We created artific...