Science and Mathematics Faculty Publications

Adaptation to Lysozyme Does Not Occur Via Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis in Tetrahymena thermophila

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-28-1999

Journal Title

WWW Journal of Biology

Volume

4

Abstract

The free-swimming ciliate, Tetrahymena thermophila, exhibits avoidance behavior when exposed to chemorepellent compounds, such as lysozyme. Cells fail to respond to lysozyme after prolonged exposure (10-14 minutes), a phenomenon known as adaptation. The mechanism of chemosensory adaptation in this ciliate is unknown. The lysozyme receptor has been affinity purified from Tetrahymena and a polyclonal antibody has been generated to the receptor. This antibody was used to immunolocalize the receptor on the cell membrane of Tetrahymena. Lysozyme-adapted cells showed a similar staining pattern to non-adapted cells. These data indicate that receptor-mediated endocytosis is not the primary mechanism for lysozyme adaptation in T. thermophila.

Keywords

adaptation, chemorepellent, receptor-mediated endocytosis

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