The Molecular Biology of Ciliated Protozoa

The Molecular Biology of Ciliated Protozoa covers topics that are unique to ciliates, including major molecular progress, genetics, life history, and development of ciliates. Organized into 11 chapters, it focuses on the importance of ciliated protozoa as experimental organisms.
The introductory chapter traces the ups and downs of ciliate biology, emphasizing the prominent role of the ciliates in early studies of cell structure, reproduction, and heredity. The book goes on to discuss ciliate genetics and conjugation, providing the basic biological framework for molecular studies of ciliate. Chapters 4 and 5 cover the nuclear DNA content, sequence, and arrangement of holotrichous and hypotrich ciliates. Chapters 6 to 9 examine the characterization of chromosomal telomeres, ribosomal gene amplification, and chromatin and histone structure using ciliated protozoa as experimental organisms. The final two chapters describe the mating mechanism of two ciliates, Blepharisma japonicum and Euplotes raikovi, and the function of surface antigens of Paramecium ciliate.
The book is intended for students and investigators who want to learn more about the ciliated protozoa, particularly, in areas that cover fundamental features of eukaryotic biology.

Contenu

Preface
1 Introduction
I. Ciliates as Experimental Organisms
II. Nuclear Dimorphism
III. The Compound Ciliate Cortex
IV. Behavioral Analysis and the Excitable Membrane
V. Clonal Aging and the Ciliate Life Cycle
VI. Mating Types and Cryptic Species
VII. Social Life and Cellular Interactions
VIII. Ciliate Origins and Ciliate Affinities
IX. Breeding Studies and Cytoplasmic Heredity
X. The New Experimental Ciliatology
XI. Germplasm Resources
XII. The Ciliate Literature
References
2 Genetic Organization of Tetrahymena
I. Introduction
II. Conjugation
III. Nullisomics and Genetic Maps
IV. Macronuclear Linkage
V. Mutagenesis
VI. Conclusions
References
3 Ciliate Conjugation
I. Conjugation Viewed as a Developmental Program
II. Nuclear Events of Conjugation
III. Prezygotic Nuclear Deployments
IV. Controlled Cell Fusion
V. Nuclear Fate Determination during Early Postzygotic Development
VI. Onset of Gene Expression in the Developing Macronucleus
VII. Evolutionary Aspects of Conjugation and Nuclear Dualism
References
4 The Nuclear DNAs of Holotrichous Ciliates
I. Introduction
II. Karyotype
III. DNA Content and Copy Number of DNA Sequences in Micro- and Macronuclei
IV. Mechanism of DNA Sequence Rearrangements
V. Function of Micronucleus-Specific DNA Sequences
VI. Conclusions
References
5 The Special Case of the Hypotrichs
I. Introduction
II. Organization of the Micronuclear and Macronuclear Genomes
III. Cytological and Cytochemical Studies of Macronuclear Development
IV. Organization and Reorganization of the Micronuclear Genome
V. Structure and Function of Micronuclear and Macronuclear Genomes during Vegetative Growth
VI. Summary
References
6 Telomeres
I. Introduction
II. Ciliate Systems for Studying Telomere Structure
III. Relationship of Ciliate Telomeres to Telomeres of Other Eukaryotes
IV. Replication of Telomeres in Ciliates and Other Lower Eukaryotes
V. Formation of New Telomeres in Macronuclear Development
VI. Unsolved Problems
References
7 Amplification of Ribosomal RNA Genes
I. Introduction
II. Macronuclear rDNA
III. Micronuclear rDNA
IV. Formation of the Extrachromosomal Palindromic rDNA
V. rDNA of Developing Macronuclei
VI. Genetic Analysis of rDNA Amplification
VII. rDNA Amplification in Other Ciliates
VIII. Summary and Remarks
References
8 Ribosomal RNA Gene Expression in Tetrahymena: Transcription and RNA Splicing
I. Introduction
II. Transcription and Processing of rDNA in Vivo
III. Transcription in Vitro
IV. RNA Splicing in Vitro
V. Prospectus
References
9 Ciliate Chromatin and Histones
I. Introduction
II. Chromatin
III. Histones
IV. Epilogue
References
10 Mating Pheromones
I. Fore ward
II. Introduction
III. Blepharisma japonicum
IV. Euplotes raikovi
V. Conclusions and Perspectives
References
11 Surface Antigens of Paramecium
I. Introduction
II. Background
III. Serotypes
IV. Serotype Switching
V. Cell Biology
VI. The Proteins, the mRNAs, and the Genes
VII. The Control of i-Antigen Expression
VIII. i-Antigen-Associated Systems
IX. Macronuclear Processing
X. Coding Problems 7
XI. i-Antigens in Tetrahymena
XII. Conclusions
References
Index