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Axenic Paramecium caudatum . I. Mass Culture and Structure *
Author(s) -
FOK AGNES K.,
ALLEN RICHARD D.
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1979.tb04654.x
Subject(s) - paramecium caudatum , vacuole , golgi apparatus , endoplasmic reticulum , axenic , organelle , population , axenic culture , paramecium , biology , phosphatidylethanolamine , mass culture , chemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , botany , bacteria , membrane , phospholipid , genetics , demography , cytoplasm , sociology , phosphatidylcholine , anthropology
SYNOPSIS. To establish and grow Paramecium caudatum in mass axenic culture the culture medium of Soldo, Godoy & van Wagtendonk was modified by substituting phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) for TEM‐4T and by a 10‐fold increase in folic acid. Population densities of 4000 to 6000 cells/ml and a generation time of 20–26 h are regularly obtained. Optimal growth is obtained with PE‐stigmasterol ratios between 40:1 to 400:1. Cells from 1‐day‐old axenic cultures have many lipid bodies aggregated in clumps (which disappear in 2 to 3 days) as well as foci of rough endoplasmic reticulum bordered by dictyosomes. The latter suggests a very active metabolism. Crystalline sheets found in both food vacuoles and lysosomes presumably play a role in digestion. Axenically grown cells also have abundant Golgi bodies (dictyosomes) and by late log phase become filled with lysosomes.