Kinetic studies on the mating reaction ofTetrahymena pyriformis, Syngen 1

✍ Scribed by McCoy, J. Wynne

• Book ID: 102335844
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1972
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 470 KB
• Volume: 180
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-104X
• DOI: 10.1002/jez.1401800213

✦ Synopsis

Mating is induced in Tetrahymena pyriformis, syngen 1, by mixing starved and washed cultures of unlike mating type. A refractory period of at least 35 minutes is observed before mating begins. The duration of the "waiting period' is shown to depend on concentrations of cells of each mating type, in such a way that the rate of approach of mating is inversely proportional to the product of the concentrations of cells of the two mating types. These observations suggest that the cells "count" collisions with cells of unlike mating type during the waiting period. Exposure of the starved cultures to a low concentration of reactive cells of unlike mating type was used in a "conditioning" experiment. The waiting period is reduced when such conditioned stocks are mixed. The results of this experiment also support the interpretation that the rate of approach of mating depends on the number of collisions experienced by the cells.