The formation of the feeding organelle in Paramecium aurelia

Abstract

The control of formation of the feeding or buccal structures in Paramecium aurelia has been studied by damaging or eliminating this organelle by means of a microbeam of ultraviolet light and following the fate of treated cells through subsequent fissions and autogamy. Homopolar doublets, with two sets of buccal parts per cell, provided one set as a control and to feed the cell while the other was used experimentally. The evidence shows that buccal morphogenesis is not simply self‐assembly of gene products but depends also on pre‐existing cytoplasmic differentiations of the cell.