- THIS ARTICLE
- Full Text (PDF)
- Alert me when this article is cited
- Alert me if a correction is posted
- SERVICES
- Similar articles in this journal
- Similar articles in PubMed
- Alert me to new issues of the journal
- Download to citation manager
- Reprints & Permissions
- CITING ARTICLES
- Citing Articles via Google Scholar
- GOOGLE SCHOLAR
- Articles by Takagi, Y.
- Articles by Tanabe, H.
- Search for Related Content
- PUBMED
- PubMed Citation
- Articles by Takagi, Y.
- Articles by Tanabe, H.
Genetics, Vol 123, 749-754, Copyright © 1989
INVESTIGATIONS |
Identification of a Gene That Shortens Clonal Life Span of Paramecium tetraurelia
Y. Takagi, K. Izumi, H. Kinoshita, T. Yamada, K. Kaji and H. Tanabe
Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Nara Women's University, Nara 630, Japan
We have isolated a Paramecium tetraurelia mutant that divides slowly in daily reisolation cultures and repeats short clonal life spans after successive autogamies. Here we show, using breeding analysis, that a recessive mutation is responsible for the low fission rate and that this low rate is closely related to the short clonal life span. We conclude that a single pleiotropic gene controls these traits and have named it jumyo. In an attempt to further characterize the jumyo mutant, we have revealed that it has a culture life span similar to that of the wild-type cells and that, when mass cultured, it can divide as rapidly as wild-type cells. There was strong evidence that the mutant cells excreted into culture medium some substance that promotes their cell division. These findings may not only present supporting evidence for the hypothesis that the cellular life span is genetically programmed but also give a material basis for the study of the controlling mechanism of cell division in relation to the clonal life span.