Ciliate identification

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Shivs
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:24 pm
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Ciliate identification

#1 Post by Shivs » Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:38 pm

noticed this guy, somewhat teardrop shaped with prominent cilia around the bucal cavity. Any ideas?

http://office.shivs.org:5080/ciliate5.mp4

Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: Ciliate identification

#2 Post by Bruce Taylor » Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:04 am

Blepharisma. :)

Shivs
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:24 pm
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Re: Ciliate identification

#3 Post by Shivs » Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:11 am

Blepharisma is a heterotrich, based on the meaning of the words I'm guessing that means uneven distribution of cilia. What then does hypotrich mean?

Bruce Taylor
Posts: 986
Joined: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:34 am

Re: Ciliate identification

#4 Post by Bruce Taylor » Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:42 am

The word "heterotrich" refers to the two types of ciliary structures on these guys (not their uneven distribution). They have composite cilia (polykinetids) arranged in the form of "adoral membranelles", partially encircling the oral region; and they also have simple somatic cilia, uniformly distributed over the cell. A few years ago, I drew an image of Blepharisma for Wikipedia, which shows how the somatic cilia and the polykinetids/adoral zone membranelles are arranged: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... iagram.png

ETA: correction! I'd said earlier that "hypotrich" means "few hairs"....which I've always assumed was the case (on the model of words like "hypomania," or "hypothymia"). But I just checked that, and in fact I think the term refers to the fact that the hairs (cirri) are "beneath" the organism, on the ventral surface (there are often simple cilia on the dorsal side, but not thick, compound cirri). So: "hypo" (beneath, under) and "trichia" (hairs).

Shivs
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2021 11:24 pm
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Re: Ciliate identification

#5 Post by Shivs » Tue Mar 30, 2021 7:45 am

Bruce Taylor wrote:
Tue Mar 30, 2021 1:42 am
The word "heterotrich" refers to the two types of ciliary structures on these guys (not their uneven distribution). They have composite cilia (polykinetids) arranged in the form of "adoral membranelles", partially encircling the oral region; and they also have simple somatic cilia, uniformly distributed over the cell. A few years ago, I drew an image of Blepharisma for Wikipedia, which shows how the somatic cilia and the polykinetids/adoral zone membranelles are arranged: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... iagram.png

ETA: correction! I'd said earlier that "hypotrich" means "few hairs"....which I've always assumed was the case (on the model of words like "hypomania," or "hypothymia"). But I just checked that, and in fact I think the term refers to the fact that the hairs (cirri) are "beneath" the organism, on the ventral surface (there are often simple cilia on the dorsal side, but not thick, compound cirri). So: "hypo" (beneath, under) and "trichia" (hairs).
Very interesting, I'm always in to etymology

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