Abstract
Tetrahymena, a freshwater ciliated protozoan, is in many ways an ideal candidate for the study of cells by students. Readily obtained and cultured, Tetrahymena can be used to study ciliary motion, organelle structure and function, cell morphology, cell proliferation, and cell behaviors (Leick & Hellung-Larsen 1992; Wheatley et al. 1994). Because of the ease with which Tetrahymena can be grown and manipulated, it is especially suitable for use in inquiry-based labs and student projects. Phagocytosis in Tetrahymena is an especially dramatic cell behavior that students can observe directly with a compound microscope. When hungry Tetrahymena encounter food, they use their cilia to sweep it into each cell's oral groove. This process can be visualized by feeding stained yeast cells India ink (Keenan 1984) or Chlorella to Tetrahymena. Phagocytosis can be quantitated by counting the number of vacuoles that form in a defined time period. In this paper, I describe how our students use the India ink method, described below, to investigate phagocytosis and vacuole formation in Tetrahymena first to learn the basis of microscope use, and then to pursue various experimental projects.
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