Summary
Phagocytosis and digestion in Climacostomum virens were investigated using the flagellate Chlorogonium elongatum as food. The flagellates are pushed through the buccal tube to be enclosed in food vacuoles in the cytopharyngeal region at the base of the buccal tube. Cytopharyngeal vesicles contribute membrane to the forming food vacuoles. Within 3–5 min after ingestion, small vesicles, presumably primary lysosomes, surround the food vacuole and fuse with it. Electron-lucent folds develop in the food vacuole membrane 3–6 h after feeding. Electron dense evaginations from the vacuole are detected 9–24 h after ingestion. Folds and evaginations appear to be involved in the resorption and transport of digested material through the cytoplasm. Defecation of undigested residues at the cytoproct occurs 12–24 h after ingestion. The membrane of the defecation vacuole fragments to form numerous vesicles as the undigested residues are discharged.
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Support of a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft is gratefully acknowledged. The authors thank Dr. R.K. Peck, University of Geneva, for valuable discussions, and Dr. D.J. Patterson, University of Bristol, for critical reading of the manuscript.
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Fischer-Defoy, D., Hausmann, K. Ultrastructural characteristics of algal digestion by Climacostomum virens (Ciliata) (Ehrenberg) stein. Zoomorphology 100, 121–130 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310358
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310358