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THE EFFECTS OF COLCHICINE ON CELLULAR ORGANIZATION IN CHLAMYDOMONAS. I. LIGHT MICROSCOPY AND CYTOCHEMISTRY
Author(s) -
Walne Patricia L.
Publication year - 1966
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1966.tb06850.x
Subject(s) - colchicine , biology , cytochemistry , chlamydomonas , organelle , microbiology and biotechnology , paramecium , ultrastructure , motility , cell , botany , biochemistry , biophysics , genetics , gene , mutant
Light‐microscopic investigations and cytochemical analyses were conducted on cells of Chlamydomonas eugametos before, during, and after treatment with colchicine. The effects of the drug on the organization of cellular components were followed at definite intervals and compared with those of control cells in colchicine‐free medium; corresponding studies were made of recovery after treated cells had been returned to a colchicine‐free medium. Upon introduction of 0.005 m colchicine into the culture medium, pronounced changes at the cell surface, in motility, cell size and shape, nuclear volume and shape, and number and arrangement of organelles occurred. When treated cells were returned to a colchicine‐free medium, many underwent a progression of changes and eventually gave rise to apparently normal progeny. Comparative cytochemical studies of untreated and colchicine‐treated cells revealed an increase in amount of starch, protein, and lipid materials to be characteristic of treated cells. The data also suggest that the enlarged walls of treated cells are composed of a complex polysaccharide.