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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 3667

O. Roger Anderson; Some Enzyme Activities in the Testate Amoeba Netzelia tuberculata. J.Protozool. 35(1):19-20, 1988

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Testate amoebae occur in diverse environments including well aerated streams and anoxic bottom sediments. They consume a wide variety of food including algal prey, bacteria, and detritus. Since little is known about the physiological ecology of many of these widespread organisms, some respiratory and digestive enzyme activities were assessed using Netzelia tuberculata, which is readily cultivated in the laboratory. Activities, expressed as units/ug protein are as follows: acid aryl phophatase, 19.0x10E-6; acid protease, 26x10E-3; cytochrome oxidase, 2.3x10E-4; and lactate dehydrogenase, 3.6x10E-4. No amylase was detected in these specimens, which may help to explain why starch grains, apparently consumed from algal prey, are expelled from the cytoplasm and used as wall-construction particles.