Open AccessImage analysis of lysosomal activity during the early clonal life of Paramecium primaurelia
Author(s) -
Ramoino Paola,
Beltrame Francesco,
Fato Marco
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07335.x
Subject(s) - acid phosphatase , vacuole , enzyme , biology , phosphatase , biochemistry , phosphate , enzyme assay , microscope , alkaline phosphatase , lysosome , confocal laser scanning microscopy , chemistry , biophysics , cytoplasm , pathology , medicine
Abstract Acid phosphatase activity was measured in individual cells by determining their optical densities through a scanning confocal laser microscope. The naphthol AS‐TR (3‐hydroxy‐2‐naphtoic acid 4′‐chloro‐2′‐methylanilide) phosphate‐hexazotized para‐rosanilin method was used to visualise the acid phosphatase content in the light microscope. Evidence was obtained that the amount of enzyme varied in exponential growth phase cells as the fission age increased. By comparing the acid phosphatase activity with the rate of food vacuole formation, it appeared that the amount of enzyme inside the cells decreased in early clonal life, whereas the rate of food uptake increased. It was assumed that the reduction of acid phosphatase content could lead to a more extended life of vacuoles and to a decreased membrane recycling rate. In turn, the reduced supply of membrane available for food vacuole formation could partly be responsible for the decrease of the food uptake rate observed after the initial increase.