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Cilia pp 149–168Cite as

Methods for Studying Ciliary-Mediated Chemoresponse in Paramecium

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Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1454))

Abstract

Paramecium is a useful model organism for the study of ciliary-mediated chemical sensing and response. Here we describe ways to take advantage of Paramecium to study chemoresponse.

Unicellular organisms like the ciliated protozoan Paramecium sense and respond to chemicals in their environment (Van Houten, Ann Rev Physiol 54:639–663, 1992; Van Houten, Trends Neurosci 17:62–71, 1994). A thousand or more cilia that cover Paramecium cells serve as antennae for chemical signals, similar to ciliary function in a large variety of metazoan cell types that have primary or motile cilia (Berbari et al., Curr Biol 19(13):R526–R535, 2009; Singla V, Reiter J, Science 313:629–633, 2006). The Paramecium cilia also produce the motor output of the detection of chemical cues by controlling swimming behavior. Therefore, in Paramecium the cilia serve multiple roles of detection and response.

We present this chapter in three sections to describe the methods for (1) assaying populations of cells for their behavioral responses to chemicals (attraction and repulsion), (2) characterization of the chemoreceptors and associated channels of the cilia using proteomics and binding assays, and (3) electrophysiological analysis of individual cells’ responses to chemicals. These methods are applied to wild type cells, mutants, transformed cells that express tagged proteins, and cells depleted of gene products by RNA Interference (RNAi).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, The University of Vermont, Room 120A, Marsh Life Science Building, 109 Carrigan Drive, Burlington, VT, 05405, USA

    Megan Smith Valentine & Judith L. Van Houten

Authors
  1. Megan Smith Valentine
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  2. Judith L. Van Houten
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Correspondence to Judith L. Van Houten .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Yeshiva University, Bronx, New York, USA

    Peter Satir

  2. Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Søren Tvorup Christensen

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Valentine, M.S., Van Houten, J.L. (2016). Methods for Studying Ciliary-Mediated Chemoresponse in Paramecium . In: Satir, P., Christensen, S. (eds) Cilia. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1454. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3789-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3789-9_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-3787-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-3789-9

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