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Specimen
027
The microbe in this short video is not just one single organism but hundreds of small organisms inhabiting the body of a large one. It's a single-celled ciliate - Paramecium bursaria - filled with cells of the green algae genus Chlorella. The symbiotic relationship that exist between some ciliates and algae is called mixotrophy. Food which the ciliate ingests produces nitrogen compounds and carbon doxide needed by the algae. The ciliate's cell membrane also provides the algae with protection from other microorganisms. In return, the algae provides the ciliate with the products of its photosynthesis, such as oxygen and organic matter. Note the fine 'hairs' surrounding the ciliate. From water samples collected at Kingfisher Pond in Northstowe, Cambridgeshire. |