Characterization of Crystals in Ciliate Paramecium Bursaria Harboring Endosymbiotic Chlorella Variabilis

Overview

Journal Curr Microbiol

Specialty Microbiology

Date 2024 Jul 13

PMID 39003318

Authors

Yuuki Kodama

Ayasa Kitatani

Yuriko Morita

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Protists, including ciliates retain crystals in their cytoplasm. However, their functions and properties remain unclear. To comparatively analyze the crystals of Paramecium bursaria, a ciliate, associated with and without the endosymbiotic Chlorella variabilis, we investigated the isolated crystals using a light microscope and analyzed their length and solubility. A negligible number of crystals was found in P. bursaria cells harboring symbiotic algae. The average crystal length in alga-free and algae-reduced cells was about 6.8 μm and 14.4 μm, respectively. The crystals of alga-free cells were spherical, whereas those of algae-reduced cells were angular in shape. The crystals of alga-free cells immediately dissolved in acids and bases, but not in water or organic solvents, and were stable at - 20 °C for more than 3 weeks. This study, for the first time, reveals that the characteristics of crystals present in the cytoplasm of P. bursaria vary greatly depending on the amount of symbiotic algae.

Citing Articles

Effects of the Symbiotic on the Host Ciliate Phenotypes.

Kodama Y, Fujishima M Microorganisms. 2025; 12(12.

PMID: 39770740 PMC: 11678095. DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12122537.

Dynamics of digestive vacuole differentiation clarified by the observation of living Paramecium bursaria.

Obayashi K, Kodama Y Protoplasma. 2024; 262(2):331-340.

PMID: 39379752 PMC: 11839807. DOI: 10.1007/s00709-024-01996-1.

References

Fogel M, Schmitter R, Hastings J . On the physical identity of scintillons: bioluminescent particles in Gonyaulax polyedra. J Cell Sci. 1972; 11(1):305-17. DOI: 10.1242/jcs.11.1.305. View

Fujishima M, Kodama Y . Mechanisms for establishing primary and secondary endosymbiosis in Paramecium. J Eukaryot Microbiol. 2022; 69(5):e12901. DOI: 10.1111/jeu.12901. View

Brown J, Nielsen P . Transfer of photosynthetically produced carbohydrate from endosymbiotic Chlorellae to Paramecium bursaria. J Protozool. 1974; 21(4):569-70. DOI: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1974.tb03702.x. View

Summerer M, Sonntag B, Hortnagl P, Sommaruga R . Symbiotic ciliates receive protection against UV damage from their algae: a test with Paramecium bursaria and Chlorella. Protist. 2009; 160(2):233-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2008.11.005. View

Greczek-Stachura M, Lesnicka P, Tarcz S, Rautian M, Mozdzen K . Genetic Diversity of Symbiotic Green Algae of Syngens Originating from Distant Geographical Locations. Plants (Basel). 2021; 10(3). PMC: 8005025. DOI: 10.3390/plants10030609. View

Pilatova J, Panek T, Obornik M, cepicka I, Mojzes P . Revisiting biocrystallization: purine crystalline inclusions are widespread in eukaryotes. ISME J. 2022; 16(9):2290-2294. PMC: 9381591. DOI: 10.1038/s41396-022-01264-1. View

Kodama Y, Fujishima M . Cycloheximide induces synchronous swelling of perialgal vacuoles enclosing symbiotic Chlorella vulgaris and digestion of the algae in the ciliate Paramecium bursaria. Protist. 2008; 159(3):483-94. DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2008.02.005. View

Spanner C, Darienko T, Filker S, Sonntag B, Proschold T . Morphological diversity and molecular phylogeny of five Paramecium bursaria (Alveolata, Ciliophora, Oligohymenophorea) syngens and the identification of their green algal endosymbionts. Sci Rep. 2022; 12(1):18089. PMC: 9613978. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22284-z. View

Reisser W . [The metabolic interactions between Paramecium bursaria Ehrbg. and Chlorella spec. in the Paramecium bursaria-symbiosis. II. Symbiosis-specific properties of the physiology and the cytology of the symbiotic unit and their regulation (author's...]. Arch Microbiol. 1976; 111(1-2):161-70. DOI: 10.1007/BF00446564. View

10.

Blanc G, Duncan G, Agarkova I, Borodovsky M, Gurnon J, Kuo A . The Chlorella variabilis NC64A genome reveals adaptation to photosymbiosis, coevolution with viruses, and cryptic sex. Plant Cell. 2010; 22(9):2943-55. PMC: 2965543. DOI: 10.1105/tpc.110.076406. View

11.

Jenkins B . Mutualism on the edge: Understanding the Paramecium-Chlorella symbiosis. PLoS Biol. 2024; 22(4):e3002563. PMC: 10994274. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002563. View

12.

Cheng Y, Liu C, Yu Y, Jhou Y, Fujishima M, Tsai I . Genome plasticity in Paramecium bursaria revealed by population genomics. BMC Biol. 2020; 18(1):180. PMC: 7702705. DOI: 10.1186/s12915-020-00912-2. View

13.

Kodama Y, Fujishima M . Endosymbiotic Chlorella variabilis reduces mitochondrial number in the ciliate Paramecium bursaria. Sci Rep. 2022; 12(1):8216. PMC: 9151773. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12496-8. View

14.

Kodama Y, Fujishima M . Endosymbiosis of Chlorella species to the ciliate Paramecium bursaria alters the distribution of the host's trichocysts beneath the host cell cortex. Protoplasma. 2010; 248(2):325-37. DOI: 10.1007/s00709-010-0175-z. View

15.

Mojzes P, Gao L, Ismagulova T, Pilatova J, Moudrikova S, Gorelova O . Guanine, a high-capacity and rapid-turnover nitrogen reserve in microalgal cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020; 117(51):32722-32730. PMC: 7768779. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2005460117. View

16.

Greczek-Stachura M, Potekhin A, Przybos E, Rautian M, Skoblo I, Tarcz S . Identification of Paramecium bursaria syngens through molecular markers--comparative analysis of three loci in the nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Protist. 2011; 163(5):671-85. DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2011.10.009. View

17.

Kodama Y, Fujishima M . Localization of perialgal vacuoles beneath the host cell surface is not a prerequisite phenomenon for protection from the host's lysosomal fusion in the ciliate Paramecium bursaria. Protist. 2009; 160(2):319-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.protis.2008.11.003. View

18.

Creutz C, Mohanty S, DeFalco T, Kretsinger R . Purine composition of the crystalline cytoplasmic inclusions of Paramecium tetraurelia. Protist. 2002; 153(1):39-45. DOI: 10.1078/1434-4610-00081. View

19.

PAUTARD F . Hydroxyapatite as a developmental feature of Spirostomum ambiguum. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1959; 35:33-46. DOI: 10.1016/0006-3002(59)90332-4. View

20.

Kodama Y, Endoh Y . Comparative Analyses of the Symbiotic Associations of the Host Paramecium bursaria with Free-Living and Native Symbiotic Species of Chlorella. Curr Microbiol. 2024; 81(2):66. DOI: 10.1007/s00284-023-03590-9. View