%0 Journal Article
%T Characterization of Crystals in Ciliate Paramecium bursaria Harboring Endosymbiotic Chlorella variabilis.
%A Kodama Y
%A Kitatani A
%A Morita Y
%J Curr Microbiol
%V 81
%N 9
%D 2024 Jul 13
%M 39003318
%F 2.343
%R 10.1007/s00284-024-03793-8
%X Protists, including ciliates retain crystals in their cytoplasm. However, their functions and properties remain unclear. To comparatively analyze the crystals of Paramecium bursaria, a ciliate, associated with and without the endosymbiotic Chlorella variabilis, we investigated the isolated crystals using a light microscope and analyzed their length and solubility. A negligible number of crystals was found in P. bursaria cells harboring symbiotic algae. The average crystal length in alga-free and algae-reduced cells was about 6.8 μm and 14.4 μm, respectively. The crystals of alga-free cells were spherical, whereas those of algae-reduced cells were angular in shape. The crystals of alga-free cells immediately dissolved in acids and bases, but not in water or organic solvents, and were stable at - 20 °C for more than 3 weeks. This study, for the first time, reveals that the characteristics of crystals present in the cytoplasm of P. bursaria vary greatly depending on the amount of symbiotic algae.