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The World of Protozoa, Rotifera, Nematoda and Oligochaeta

Ref ID : 7515

Jean-Claude Esteve; [Une Population de Type << Killer >> chez Paramecium caudatum (Ehrenberg)]. Protistologica XIV(2):201-207, 1978

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A wild strain of Paramecium caudatum showed a killer trait. Paramecia of a sensitive population died after some tens of hours when submitted to its infleunce. Cytological observations of the killer paramecia revealed the occurrence of numerous "bacteria" in the macronucleus; some of these microorganisms were strictly kappa-like, with R body and viral particles. When the evolution of a killer population was studied, the occurrence of abnormalities during fission for some cells, a lesser resistance to unfavorable nutritional conditions for the whole population, indicated that this strain of P. caudatum was, in fact, parasitized.