Electron Microscopy of an Intracellular Response of Tetrahymena Pyriformis to Fluids From Normal Animals

Abstract

It was previously reported that log phase Tetrahymena pyriformis (strain WHg), washed free of growth medium, after mixing with normal human or rabbit serum or mouse ascites fluid, gave rise after several hours to numerous large and small bodies in the cytoplasm, as visualized by the light microscope. Generally, the large bodies remained in the posterior portion of the animal, while the small ones were localized near the anterior end. Stained preparations showed small Sudan IV positive bodies and large PAS positive bodies. Electron micrographs also identified the small bodies as lipid and showed the large ones to be enclosed within a membrane (Fig. 1) and unlike anything yet described for this organism. Whether all these large bodies correspond to the PAS positive bodies on the slide preparations is uncertain.