Mass Culture of Paramecium tetraurelia: Figure 1.

Abstract

INTRODUCTIONClonal cell lines of Paramecium tetraurelia can be established easily by single cell isolation. Given a constant supply of food, P. tetraurelia cells will remain in the vegetative phase of their life cycle and, at 27°C, will divide by binary fission every 6 h. P. tetraurelia is suitable for a range of biochemical and molecular studies such as mitochondrial genetics, post-translational tubulin modifications, variant genetic codes, programmed genome rearrangements (and their epigenetic regulation by noncoding RNAs), and RNA interference. This protocol describes the methods required to grow high-density mass cultures of P. tetraurelia in quantities sufficient to provide the material required for biochemical and molecular biological studies.