The Pharyngeal Protein Fibres of the Ciliates 



Ch. Rouiller, E. Faure-Fremiet and M. Gauchery 



Laboratoires d' Enibryologie experiinentale et cle Medecine experimentale dii College de France, Paris; 

 Iiistitiit de Recherches siir le Cancer Gustave Ronssy, Villejuif 



1 HE Ciliates are distinguished amongst unicellular 

 organisms by the diversity and complexity of their 

 cytoplasmic differentiations. Electron microscopy 

 allows us to make new studies both of the ultrastruc- 

 ture and comparative morphology of various orga- 

 nites such as myoid fibres and certain skeletal appa- 

 ratus (3-9). 



Among the latter, we will examine here protein 

 fibres which in the Gymnostomata and some Hypo- 



W 



stomata form below the mouth, in the endoplasm, 

 a pharyngeal framework guiding the introduction 

 of ingesta. The properties of these rigid and elastic 

 fibres, birefringent and easily stained with mercuric 

 bromophenol blue, are readily comparable to certain 

 scleroprotein. 



In the prostomal and pleurostomal Gymnosto- 

 mata (called Rhabdophorina by Corliss (1), from 

 Faure-Fremiet (2)) this framework is built up from 





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V / : ^ 





Fig. I. Coleps hirtus. Cross section of the anterior part of the body. B, buccal depression. T, cross sections of the 

 trichites constituting the pharyngeal framework around the buccal funnel. M, mitochondria. Around the buccal depres- 

 sion there are some radial cytoplasmic lamellae (L) and many granules (G). Magnification 31,000. 



