Defense Function of Pigment Granules in the Ciliate Blepharisma japonicum against Two Predatory Protists,Amoeba proteus (Rhizopodea) and Climacostomum virens (Ciliata)

Terazima, Masayo Noda; Harumoto, Terue

doi:10.2108/zsj.21.823

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…; Pucciarelli et al. ; Terazima and Harumoto ). In fact, even if the mechanism that confers immunity or resistance to a ciliate species against its own or foreign toxins is to date unknown, according to Buonanno and Ortenzi () we can speculate that the adoption of a common biosynthetic pathway for the assembly of defense toxins has been accompanied, in the case of Blepharisma and Climacostomum , by the evolution of similar self‐protection systems capable of endowing the ciliates with an elevated level of resistance against the content of their own extrusomes and those of other ciliates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Offense by Means of Toxicysts in the Freshwater Ciliate, Coleps hirtus

Buonanno

Anesi

Guella

et al. 2014

J Eukaryotic Microbiology

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Coleps hirtus is a small common freshwater ciliate belonging to the protostomatid group, its body covered by calcified plates assembled to form an armor. Coleps feeds on bacteria, algae, flagellates, living and dead ciliates, animal and plant tissues. To assist its carnivorous feeding the ciliate is equipped with offensive extrusomes (toxicysts), clustering mainly in and around its oral aperture. In this study, we isolated the discharge of the toxicysts from living cells, evaluating its cytotoxic effects against various ciliate species, and demonstrating that it is essential for the effectiveness of Coleps' predatory behavior. The analysis of the toxicyst discharge performed by liquid chromatography-electrospray-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, revealed the presence of a mixture of 19 saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated free fatty acids with the addition of a minor amount of a diterpenoid (phytanic acid).

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemical Offense by Means of Toxicysts in the Freshwater Ciliate, Coleps hirtus

Buonanno

Anesi

Guella

et al. 2014

J Eukaryotic Microbiology

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“…It is known that one of the main functions of BPs in B. japonicum is chemical defense against unicellular predators (Harumoto et al 1998;Terazima & Harumoto 2004). To investigate whether this function was also present in B. stoltei and B. undulans (Figure 1), we observed the predator-prey interaction of untreated or PGD cells of the Blepharisma species against one multicellular (S. sphagnetorum) predator and two unicellular predators (C. hirtus and S. roeseli).…”

Section: Predator-prey Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Blepharismins used for chemical defense in two ciliate species of the genus Blepharisma, B. stoltei and B. undulans (Ciliophora: Heterotrichida)

Buonanno

Anesi

Guella

et al. 2017

The European Zoological Journal

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It is known that the freshwater heterotrich ciliate Blepharisma japonicum uses five pigments called blepharismins, stored in its extrusive pigment granules, for both light perception and chemical defense against predators. In this work we focused our attention on the defensive strategies of two additional pigmented species of Blepharisma, B. stoltei and B. undulans. In particular: (1) we observed the predator–prey interactions of B. stoltei or B. undulans against one multicellular and two unicellular predators; (2) we clarified the nature of B. stoltei and B. undulans pigments by means of High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS); and (3) we demonstrated and compared the toxicity of the purified pigments on a panel of ciliated protists, and against one metazoan predator. The results indicate that the chemical defense mechanism present in B. stoltei and B. undulans is mediated by the same five blepharismins previously characterized for B. japonicum, although produced in different proportions

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“…Several heterotrich ciliates are chemically defended against predatory ciliates and multicellular predators by the contents of cortical granules (Table 2). The pigments of S. coeruleus (49), B. japonicum (48,51,151), L. striatus (52) and the colorless toxin in C. virens (50) can be extruded upon attack and repel the ciliate Dileptus . This predator is both physically damaged and behaviorally disturbed by the toxin and will die if trapped in toxin solutions.…”

Section: Toxicity Uv‐protection and Other Possible Roles For Hypericmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, while the toxins may be broadly effective as feeding deterrents— Loxodes ’ pigment defends it against the [mesograzer] catenulid turbellarian (flatworm) Stenostomum sphagnetorum as well as predatory ciliates (52)—they are not universal. B. japonicum is defended by its pigment against Amoeba proteus but not C. virens (151) and Giese (41) noted that blepharismas in general are “readily eaten” by some other protists and small crustaceans.…”

Section: Toxicity Uv‐protection and Other Possible Roles For Hypericmentioning

confidence: 99%

Photophysics and Multifunctionality of Hypericin‐Like Pigments in Heterotrich Ciliates: A Phylogenetic Perspective

Lobban

Hallam

Mukherjee

et al. 2007

Photochem & Photobiology

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In this paper, we review the literature and present some new data to examine the occurrence and photophysics of the diverse hypericin-like chromophores in heterotrichs, the photoresponses of the cells, the various roles of the pigments and the taxa that might be studied to advance our understanding of these pigments. Hypericin-like chromophores are known chemically and spectrally so far only from the stentorids and Fabrea, the latter now seen to be sister to stentorids in the phylogenetic tree. For three hypericin-like pigments, the structures are known but these probably do not account for all the colors seen in stentorids. At least eight physiological groups of Stentor exist depending on pigment color and presence ⁄ absence of zoochlorellae, and some species can be bleached, leading to many opportunities for comparison of pigment chemistry and cell behavior. Several different responses to light are exhibited among heterotrichs, sometimes by the same cell; in particular, cells with algal symbionts are photophilic in contrast to the well-studied sciaphilous (shadeloving) species. Hypericin-like pigments are involved in some well-known photophobic reactions but other pigments (rhodopsin and flavins) are also involved in photoresponses in heterotrichs and other protists. The best characterized role of hypericin-like pigments in heterotrichs is in photoresponses and they have at least twice evolved a role as photoreceptors. However, hypericin and hypericin-like pigments in diverse organisms more commonly serve as predator defense and the pigments are multifunctional in heterotrichs. A direct role for the pigments in UV protection is possible but evidence is equivocal. New observations are presented on a folliculinid from deep water, including physical characterization of its hypericin-like pigment and its phylogenetic position based on SSU rRNA sequences. The photophysics of hypericin and hypericin-like pigments is reviewed. Particular attention is given to how their excited-state properties are modified by the environment. Dramatic changes in excited-state behavior are observed as hypericin is moved from the homogeneous environment of organic solvents to the much more structured surroundings provided by the complexes it forms with proteins. Among these complexes, it is useful to consider the differences between environments where hypericin is not found naturally and those where it is, notably, for example, in heterotrichs. It is clear that interaction with a protein modifies the photophysics of hypericin and understanding the molecular basis of this interaction is one of the outstanding problems in elucidating the function of hypericin and hypericin-like chromophores.

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Defense Function of Pigment Granules in the Ciliate Blepharisma japonicum against Two Predatory Protists,Amoeba proteus (Rhizopodea) and Climacostomum virens (Ciliata)

Cited by 17 publications

References 27 publications

Chemical Offense by Means of Toxicysts in the Freshwater Ciliate, Coleps hirtus

Chemical Offense by Means of Toxicysts in the Freshwater Ciliate, Coleps hirtus

Blepharismins used for chemical defense in two ciliate species of the genus Blepharisma, B. stoltei and B. undulans (Ciliophora: Heterotrichida)

Photophysics and Multifunctionality of Hypericin‐Like Pigments in Heterotrich Ciliates: A Phylogenetic Perspective

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