A dividing Didinium nasutum. This large ciliate is capable of engulfing Paramecium. It has a thick ectoplasm containing numerous mucocysts embedded in its extensive epiplasm. Its external surface is coated with a layer of bacteria in this dividing cell. The cytoplasm is relatively compact under the conditions of fixation used. Electron opaque vacuoles are scattered in the cytoplasm. (For a more detailed report see Wessenberg and Antipa, Protistologica 4:427-447, 1968). TEM taken on 5/9/69 by M. Sage with Philips 300 operating at 60kV. Neg. 3,120X. Bar = 2?m.
Biological Process: Cortical cytoskeleton organization, Cytoplasm organization, Plasma membrane organization, Detection of symbiont
The negative was printed to paper and the image was scanned to Photoshop. This digitized image is available for qualitative analysis. A high resolution view suitable for qunatitative analysis is available in the library (CIL:38862). Standard glutaraldehyde fixation followed by osmium tetroxide, dehydrated in alcohol and embedded in an epoxy resin. Microtome sections prepared at approximately 75nm thickness. Additional information available at (http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/allen/).
Author: Richard Allen
Source: The Cell: An Image Library
