Main Content

The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 4809

C.A. Groliere, S. Sefrioui, and Janine Dupy-Blanc; Bioconversion of Thiram (TMTD) by Tetrahymena pyriformis. Arch.Protistenk 141:135-140, 1992

Reprint

In File

Notes

When thiram, a dithiocarbamate fungicide, is added to axenic, exponentially growing cultures of Tetrahymena pyriformis GL, the generation time of the ciliates changes in relation to cell density despite identical treatments (0.4 mg/l thiram added). Generation time increases with increasing cell concentration up to 6x10E4 cells/ml. By contrast, thiram is rapidly detoxified by contact with the culture medium alone, being inactivated within 20 minutes. Filtrates from variably dense, 45 minutes thiram-treated cell cultures affect the generation time of previously unexposed ciliates in a similar way, i.e. generation time lengthens with increasing cell concentration. The results suggest that the ciliate convert thiram into metabolites toxic for the cells.