Studies of membrane formation in Tetrahymena pyriformis. II. Isolation and lipid analysis of cell fractions

Studies on cyclic nucleotide metabolism in Tetrahymena pyriformis: partial characterization of cyclic AMP- and cyclic GMP-dependent phosphodiesterases

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase [EC 3.1.4.17] was examined in tetrahymena pyriformis strain NT-1. Enzymic activity was associated with the soluble and the particulate fractions, whereas most of the cyclic GMP phosphodiesterase activity was localized in the soluble fraction; the activities were optimal at pH 8.0-9.0. Although very low activities were detected in the absence of divalent cations, they were significantly increased by the addition of either Mg2+ or Mn2+. A kinetic analysis of the properties of the enzymes yielded 2 apparent K(m) values ranging in concentration from 0.5 to 50 micron and from 0.1 to 62 micron for cyclic AMP and GMP, respectively. A Ca2+ -dependent activating factor for cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase was extracted from Tetrahymena cells, but this factor did not stimulate guanylate cyclase [EC 4.6.1.2] activity in this organism. On the other hand, tetrahymena also contained a protein activator which stimulated guanylate cyclase in the presence of Ca2+, although this activator did not stimulate the phosphodiesterase. The results suggested that Tetrahymena might contain 2 types of Ca2+ -dependent activators, one specific for phosphodiesterase and the other for guanylate cyclase.

Variation in surface proteins in Tetrahymena

Surface proteins of Tetrahymena were identified by lactoperoxidase iodination, and comparisons were made between a number of strains and species within the genus. An adequate procedure for strain comparisons was found to be solubilization of whole cells following iodination, separation of total cell protein using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and identification of surface proteins by autoradiography of dried gels. The results obtained in the present study show the existence of both interspecific and intraspecific variation in surface proteins of tetrahymena, but the differences tend to be small within species and large between species. The relation of these cell surface fingerprints to the present taxonomic designations within the genus is discussed. Questions are raised about the functional significance of these surface proteins.

The effects of high concentrations of sodium or calcium ions on the lipid composition and properties of Tetrahymena membranes

Tetrahymena pyriformis cells have been grown in media varying in NaCl concentration from 3.7 mM (normal medium) to 0.3 M and varying in CaCl2 from 0.2 mM (normal medium) to 0.1 M. Tetrahymena grown in 0.3 M NaCl showed relatively few alterations in phospholipid composition, with significant changes being found only in the cell surface membranes (pellicle), which incrased in phosphatidylethanolamine content from 39% (low Na+) to 48% (high Na+) of the total phospholipids. The small decrease in fatty acid unsaturation and increase in shorter chain fatty acids in pellicle phospholipids were not statistically significant. No significant changes in phospholipid head group composition or fatty acid distribution were observed in high Ca2+-grown cells. Complementary studies of membrane fluidity, as inferred from freeze-fracture electron microscopy analysis, indicated that membranes of high Na+-acclimated cells were similar to those of control cells, when each was measured in its respective medium. However, the outer alveolar membrane of the pellicle and the food vacuolar membrane were considerably less fluid in high-Ca2+ cells. The lower fluidity in vacuolar membranes may have been responsible for alterations in the cells' capacity to form food vacuoles.

Age-dependent modifications in membrane lipids: lipid composition, fluidity and palmitoyl-CoA desaturase in Tetrahymena membranes

The membrane lipid composition of Tetrahymena pyriformis NT-I was observed to change in a manner markedly dependent on the progress of culture age. The pellicular, mitochondrial and microsomal membranes were isolated from cell harvested at various growth phases (I, early exponential; II, mid-exponential; III, late exponential; IV, early stationary; V, late stationary) and their lipid composition was analyzed by thin-layer and gas-liquid chromatography. Although the phospholipid composition varied somewhat among membrane fractions, the most general age-dependent alteration was a considerable decrease in the content of phosphatidylethanolamine accompanied by a small increase in phosphatidylcholine. The 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid, enriched in the surface membrane pellicle, did not undergo a consistent change. As for fatty acid composition the most notable variation occurred in unsaturated fatty acids; a great increase in oleic and linoleic acids and a compensatory decrease in palmitoleic acid. This resulted in an augmented unsaturation of the overall phospholipid fatty acid profile of the aged membranes. The age-associated drastic decline in the palmitoleic acid content in membrane phospholipids could be accounted for by the markedly lowered activity of palmitoyl-CoA desaturase. The microsomes from the early exponential phase cells possess a 4-fold higher activity of the desaturase as compared to that of the late stationary phase microsomes. The decreased desaturase activity associated with the culture age was also reflected in the corresponding decrease in the conversion rate of [14C]palmitate to [14C]palmitoleate in cells labelled in vivo. The ESR spectra of the spin-labeled phospholipids extracted from the pellicular and microsomal membranes have led to the suggestion that these types of membrane would become more fluid with the age of growth.

Formation and positioning of surface-related structures in protozoa

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Discontinuous thermotropic response of Tetrahymena membrane lipids correlated with specific lipid compositional changes

Steady-state fluorescence polarization measurements of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene in microsomal lipids from Tetrahymena pyriformis cells grown at 39 or 15 degrees C revealed discrete slope discontinuities in plots of polarization vs. temperature. Two well-defined 'break points' were present in the 0-40 degrees C temperature range examined and their precise location was dependent upon the growth temperature of the cells. By mixing phospholipids from cells grown at different temperatures, the break points at 17.5 and 32 degrees C in 39 degrees C-lipid multilayer preparations were shown to correlate with the breaks at 12 and 27 degrees C, respectively, in similar preparations from 15 degrees C-grown cells. The discrete break points were also present, but at slightly different characteristic temperatures, in a phosphatidylcholine fraction and a phosphatidylethanolamine plus 2-amino-ethylphosphonolipid fraction purified from the phospholipids and in total microsomal lipids (phospholipids plus the sterol-like triterpenoid, tetrahymanol). However, catalytic hydrogenation of the phospholipid fatty acids or mixing the non-hydrogenated phospholipids with increasing proportions or synthetic dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine eliminated the break points. We interpret this discontinuous thermotropic response in microsomal lipids as signalling a lipid phase separation of importance in regulating physiological events.

Modulation of membrane fluidity in a fatty acid auxotrophe of Tetrahymena thermophila

A mutant of Tetrahymena thermophila has been isolated which requires an unsaturated fatty acid for growth. Pellicles isolated from cultures supplemented with palmitoleic, elaidic, oleic, linoleic and gamma-linolenic acids show widely differing membrane fluidities, as measured by the polarisation of fluorescence technique. In contrast to the behaviour of the wild type organism, the changes in fluidity of the membrane, once induced by supplementation, are permanent. This mutant should prove extremely useful for studying structure-function relationships in the various membrane systems of Tetrahymena.

Studies on temperature adaptation in Tetrahymena. Positional distribution of fatty acids and species analysis of phosphatidylethanolamine from Tetrahymena pyriformis grown at different temperatures

Phosphatidylethanolamine of 15 degrees C-grown Tetrahymena pyriformis (NT-I) cells contains more polyunsaturated fatty acids than 39.5 degrees C-grown cells. This increase in unsaturation is due to an increase in linoleic (C18 : 2) and linolenic (C18 : 3) acids, and a decrease in myristic (C14 : 0), palmitic (C16 : 0), palmitoleic (C16 : 1) and heptadecanoic (C17 : 0) acids. Compared with 39.5 degrees C-grown cells, the proportion of palmitic acid (C16 : 0) decreased in the 1-position as does at the 2-position in 15 degrees C-grown cells. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in linoleic (C18 : 2 delta 9, 12) and gamma-linolenic (gamma-C18 : 3) acids in the 1- and 2-positions, respectively. Phosphatidylethanolamine has been subfractionated into seven different diglyceride species. In 15 degrees C cells, the amounts of fractions 2 (1-linolenoyl-2-linoleoyl) and 3 (1-linolenoyl-2-palmitoleoyl, 1-linolenoyl-2-oleoyl) increased while there was a great decrease in subfraction 7 (1-myristoyl-2-palmitoleoyl, 1-palmitoyl-2-palmitoleoyl). Since subfractions 1 and 2 contain over 70% linoleic (C18 : 2) and linolenic (C18 : 3) acids, these fractions might be composed mainly of 1-linolenoyl-2-linolenoyl and 1-linolenoyl-2-linoleoyl molecular species at 15 degrees C. These data support evidence that phosphatidylethanolamine would play a principal role as an acceptor of acyl chains for temperature acclimation.

Modification of membrane lipids. Phenethyl alcohol-induced alteration of lipid composition in Tetrahymena membranes

Tetrahymena pyriformis NT-I cells in the early-logarithmic phase were incubated with phenethyl alcohol (2-phenylethanol) and effects on the lipid composition were examined in various membranes. 1. There was a marked modification in phospholipid head, as well as fatty acyl group composition in pellicles, mitochondria and microsomes of the phenethyl alcohol-treated cells. Compared with membranes of the control cells, the membranes from phenethyl alcohol-treated cells were found to contain a higher level of phosphatidylcholine content with the compensating decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine, while 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid showed only a slight decrease in these membranes. The acyl group profile of membrane phospholipids in the presence of phenethyl alcohol was also modified so that a profound elevation of the content of polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic and gamma-linolenic acids. The major monounsaturate, palmitoleate decreased. Such lipid alteration is a reversible process, and therefore upon removal of phenethyl alcohol the modified lipid composition returned to normal. 2. By freeze-fracture electron microscopy in combination with temperature quenching, the outer alveolar membrane of the phenethyl alcohol-treated cell was observed to reveal less aggregation of intercalated-membrane particles, as compared with the control membrane. The quantitative analysis of the thermotropic lateral movement of membrane particles provided evidence that the membrane in the phenethyl alcohol-treated cell became more fluid. Such fluidizing effects may result from an increase in the acyl group unsaturation and also in the phosphatidylcholine content. 3. With regard to the mechanism responsible for the marked decrease in palmitoleate in membrane phospholipids, there was found a depressed conversion of the palmitate to palmitoleate in the phenethyl alcohol-treated cells. It was further suggested that the drug may have an inhibitory effect on the synthesis of palmitoyl-CoA desaturase involving the (16 : 0 leads to 16 : 1) conversion. Also, it was demonstrated that the increase in a precursor-product fashion of phosphatidylcholine with the corresponding decrease in phosphatidylethanolamine was not due to transformation of phosphatidylethanolamine to phosphatidylcholine through stepwise methylation.

Temperature-induced changes in fatty acid unsaturation of Tetrahymena membranes do not require induced fatty acid desaturase synthesis

The usual rise in phospholipid-bound palmitoleic acid of Tetrahymena pyriformis cells slowly acclimating to low temperature exposure can be prevented by cycloheximide. This reduction in fatty acid desaturation is not caused by specific inhibition of a temperature-induced synthesis of a fatty acid desaturase but rather by a general effect equally conspicuous in isothermal cells. Cycloheximide-inhibited cells chilled and analyzed quickly, before long term ill effects of the drug are expressed, exhibit the rise in unsaturated fatty acids typical of temperature-acclimating cells.

Biochemical studies of the excitable membrane of Paramecium tetraurelia. II. Phospholipids of ciliary and other membranes

The phospholipids of cilia and deciliated bodies of Paramecium tetraurelia were isolated and characterized. 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-(2'-aminoethyl) phosphonate (GAEPL), phosphatidylethanolamine, and 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylcholine (GPC) were the major lipids of Paramecium, and the minor lipids included phosphatidylinositol, cardiolipin, ceramide-(2-aminoethyl) phosphonate (CAEP), ceramide phosphorylethanolamine (COPE) and four sphingolipids whose identity was not established. The deciliated bodies contained 4% cardiolipin, 15% GAEPL, 41% phosphatidylethanolamine, 30% GPC and 3% each of CAEP and phosphatidylinositol; the cilia contained no cardiolipin, 24% GAEPL, 37% phosphatidylethanolamine, 15% GPC, 15% CAEP, 3% phosphatidylinositol, 2% COPE and small amounts (approx. 1%) of the four uncharacterized sphingolipids. No alteration in phospholipid composition was found among cells harvested in the various stages of growth. The phospholipids of six Paramecium mutants of three distinct phenotypes (pawn, paranoiac and fast) were also examined. Only one significant difference was found on comparison of the whole cell, deciliated body and cilia fraction of the mutants with the analogous fractions from wild type cells: the fast mutant, fA 97, had two extra, minor phospholipids (approx. 2%) in the deciliated body fraction that were tentatively identified as 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-(2'-aminoethyl) phosphonate (AEPL) and 1-alkyl-2-acyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphorylethanolamine (GPE).

Effects of lipid-phase separation on the filipin action on membranes of ergosterol-replaced Tetrahymena cells, as studied by freeze-fracture electron microscopy

The effects of lipid-phase separation on the filipin action on pellicle membranes of ergosterol-replaced Tetrahymena pyriformis cells were studied by freeze-fracture electron microscopy. The pellicle membranes with phase separations induced by chilling from 34 degrees C (growth temperature) to lower temperatures (30, 22 and 15 degrees C) were treated with filipin. This produced filipin-induced lesions ("pits") only in the particulated (liquid) regions along the margin between solid and liquid domains, while they were produced in the particle-free (solid) areas when membranes were chilled to 15 degrees C. The pellicle membranes with lesions induced by filipin at 34 degrees C were chilled to 22 degrees C. This chilling raised larger particle-free areas and more condensed particle-aggregations on the membranes than on the membranes without the filipin treatment. These results suggest that the membrane fluidity affects induction and development of the ergosterol-filipin complex in the membrane.

Studies on Tetrahymena membranes. Palmitoyl-coenzyme a desaturase, a possible key enzyme for temperature adaptation in Tetrahymena microsomes

(1) Microsomes from a thermotolerant Tetrahymena NT-1 catalyze the conversion of palmitoyl-CoA to palmitoleate. (2) Palmitoyl-CoA desaturase enzyme requires molecular oxygen and NADH or NADPH as cofactor and its activity is inhibited by cyanide. A pH optimum range 7.0--7.3 is observed. (3) There is a clear break at 30 degrees C and a slight bend around 15 degrees C in the Arrhenius plots of palmitoyl-CoA desaturase activity. (4) After quenching from 39.5 degrees C, at 26 degrees C microsomal membranes show small particle-free areas, when examined by freeze-fracture electron microscopy, indicating the onset of phase separation. Larger smooth areas devoid of membrane-intercalated particles are observed in microsomes at 23 and 15 degrees C. The results support evidence that the thermally induced transition of desaturase enzyme activity in related to the altered membrane properties due to temperature change.

Self-regulation of membrane fluidity. The effect of saturated normal and methoxy fatty acid supplementation on Tetrahymena membrane physical properties and lipid composition

Tetrahymena cells elongated and desaturated massive supplements of palmitic or lauric acid at nearly twice the rates employed by unfed cells, thereby maintaining constant the physical properties of their membrane lipids. However, when a mixture of the 9- and 10-monomethoxy derivatives of stearic acid was administered, these compounds were incorporated without further metabolism. The marked fluidizing effect of the phospholipid-bound methoxy-fatty acids elicited an immediate reduction in fatty acid desaturase activity, the pattern of change being very similar to that induced by supplements of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The modulation of fatty acid desaturase activity by methoxy-acids clearly seems to be governed by membrane fluidity rather than by some form of end product inhibition of the type which might have been postulated to explain the similar effect caused by polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Biochemical approaches to problems of cellular patterning

The expression of intracellular patterning is perhaps nowhere more impressive than in the arrangements of structural elements associated with the cell surface in protozoa. The view is proposed that biochemical studies of protozoan plasma membranes and associated surface structures represent important contributions of potential significance for the understanding of the perpetuation and expression of positional information at the intracellular level. Some recent work dealing with the isolation, identification, and metabolism of pellicular proteins in Tetrahymena is presented and discussed. Some integral membrane proteins have been identified by iodination and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Labeling studies suggest heterogeneous turnover rates within the group of presently identified membrane proteins. High molecular weight proteins with some similarity to spectrin have been isolated from Tetrahymena epiplasm. It is suggested that the ciliate epiplasm is one example of membrane-associated, actomyosin-like systems found in a variety of cell types. The epiplasm may play a role in the positioning of surface-associated structures and in the control of cell shape.

Fine structural localization of phosphatases in cilia and basal bodies of Tetrahymena pyriformis

Cytochemical localization of ATPase activities in cilia and basal bodies of Tetrahymena pyriformis revealed a number of possible sites of ATPases. In basal bodies, reaction product was localized on the periphery of basal body microtubules, in the core of the B-microtubules, on the dense basal body core, and on the basal plate; some reaction product was associated with the postciliary and basal microtubules. In the cilium, reaction product was associated with the ciliary membrane, the basal granule, the periphery of the outer doublet microtubules, in the core of the B-microtubules, and on the arms and either the central microtubules or the radial spoke heads. Reaction product deposition required ATP and either Ca2+ or Mg2+ or ADP and Mg2+. When incubated in the presence of ATP and Na+, reaction product was only found at the base of the cilium in the region of the ciliary necklace. Implications of the various sites of activity are discussed with respect to possible mechanisms of ciliary motility.

Molecular control of membrane properties during temperature acclimation. Fatty acid desaturase regulation of membrane fluidity in acclimating Tetrahymena cells

This is a study of the molecular mechanisms employed by Tetrahymena pyriformis to change the lipid composition and thereby the fluidity of its various membranes during temperature acclimation. By quantitatively measuring the intramembrane particle aggregation using freeze-fracture electron microscopy, membrane physical properties in 39.5 degrees C grown cells shifted to 15 degrees C were found to be correlated with the degree of phospholipid fatty acid desaturation. Alteration of the phospholipid polar head group distribution from that of 39.5 degrees C-grown cells to the significantly different pattern of 15 degrees C grown cells appeared not to be of critical importance in the acclimation process. Changes in fatty acid desaturation during acclimation from high to low temperatures and vice versa were analyzed using normal cells and cells fed large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids. Fatty acid desaturase activity corresponded to the degree of membrane fluidity but not to the cell temperature. All evidence was compatible with the hypothesis that membrane fluidity is self-regulating, with the action of fatty acid desaturases being modulated by the physical state of their membrane environment.

Isolation and characterization of subcellular membranes of Entamoeba invadens

A method is described for the isolation of subcellular membranes of Entamoeba invadens. Plasma membranes were obtained by rate centrifugation followed by isopycnic centrifugation on a sucrose gradient. Intact phagolysosomes floated in a 10% sucrose solution providing a simple technique for isolation. Phagolysosomal membranes were collected by isopycnic centrifugation, after lysis of the phagolysosomes. Microsomes were obtained by differential centrifugation. Membrane fractions were examined by electron microscopy, and the contamination of each fraction was determined with marker enzymes. Mg2+-ATPase is associated with the plasma membrane. Acid phosphatase (beta-glycerophosphate) was associated mainly with phagolysosmal membranes. Plasma membranes also contained acid phosphatase activity which hydrolyzes p-nitrophenylphosphate but not beta-glycerophosphate. The localization of the two phosphatases was confirmed cytochemically. Isolated plasma membranes were contaminated with phagolysosomal membranes (15%) and with microsomes (25%). No more than 5% of the phagolysosomal membrane fraction consisted of plasma membranes. Contamination of the microsomes by plasma and phagolysosomal membranes was 10% and 7%, respectively. Plasma membranes and phagolysosomal membranes had a high ratio of cholesterol to phospholipid (0.93 and 1.05 mumol/mumol, respectively). Microsomes were relatively poor in cholesterol (0.39 mumol/mumol). Microsomes, plasma, and phagolysosomal membranes contained increasing amounts of spingolipids (12%, 17%, and 28%). Phagolysosomal membranes had a high percentage of phosphatidylserine but little phosphatidylcholine. Microsomes were rich in phosphatidylcholine (45%). Differences in phospholipid composition between plasma and phagolysosomal membranes are discussed in view of the phagocytic process.

Isolation and identification of specific cortical proteins in Tetrahymena pyriformis strain GL

Pellicles of the ciliate Tetrahymena pyriformis strain GL (phenoset A) were isolated by a new procedure. Oral apparatuses also purified by a modification of a pervious method. Both preparations were characterized by electron microsocpy. Proteins of the isolates were separated by analytical SDD polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The isolated pellicles, which included oral apparatuses, contained only 6 major proteins (gel bands), designated A through F. Bands A, B, and C, were found in the pellicle fraction, but not in the oral apparatus fraction. Therefore, these proteins are believed to be present in the somatic cortex of Tetrahymena. Bands D and E were greatly enriched in the oral apparatus fraction; these proteins are therefore believed to be present primarily in the oral apparatus. Band F, identified as tubulin, was present in both preparations. Molecular weight determinations and some selective solubilization experiments are also presented.

Studies on Tetrahymena membranes. In vivo manipulating of membrane lipids by 1-O-hexadecyl glycerol-feeding in Tetrahymena pyriformis

1. Tetrahymena pyriformis NT-I cells were grown in the medium supplemented with 1-O-hexadecyl glycerol which is the precursor for alkyl ether-containing phospholipids; choline phosphoglyceride and 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid, and alterations in the plasma membrane and microsome lipid composition were examined. No incorporation of supplemented 1-O-hexadecyl glycerol was seen in ethanolamine phosphoglyceride. 2. The hexadecyl glycerol fed membranes contain more polyunsaturated fatty acids than do the native membranes. However, the level of oleic acid (C 18:1) drops strikingly in the phospholipids of plasma and microsome membranes. 3. The hexadecyl glycerol-feeding induced a remarkable alteration in the polar headgroup composition of plasma membrane, especially a large increase in 2-amino-ethylphosphonolipid with a compensatory decrease in ethanolamine phosphoglyceride of plasma membranes. 4. The fatty acyl chain composition of phospholipids, especially ethanolamine phosphoglyceride, of the hexadecyl glycerol-fed plasma membranes and microsomes was found to be significantly different from that of the native membranes. 5. These results may indicate that marked alterations in polar headgroup as well as fatty acyl chain composition of membranes induced by glyceryl ether-feeding would be required for maintaining proper membrane fluidity.

Changes in membrane lipid composition during temperature adaptation by a thermotolerant strain of Tetrahymena pyriformis

Experiments on temperature adaptation have been conducted using a thermotolerant clone of Tetrahymena pyriformis designated as strain NT-1. The strain was able to grow well at 39.5 and 15 degrees C and could adapt quickly when transferred from one of these temperatures to the other. Cells grown at the extreme temperatures differed markedly in their membrane lipid composition, particularly in the phospholipid polar head groups and hydrocarbon chains. The levels of fatty acid unsaturation increased at the lower temperature (e.g. 15 degrees C cells contained 31% gamma-linolenic acid vs. 25% at 39.5 degrees C) as did the content of alkyl glyceryl ether derivatives. Ethanolamine phosphoglycerides decreased by more than 10 mol % of the lipid phosphorus with the drop in temperature, the decrease being offset by a concomitant rise in 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid. These temperature-induced changes were noted in certain purified membrane preparations as well as in whole cells. Experiments with [14C]palmitic acid and sodium[14C]acetate showed that fatty acids are first incorporated into phospholipids predominantly in a saturated form. The membranes served as a reservoir of fatty acid substrate for desaturase activity. Tetrahymena pyriformis, strain NT-1, was proposed as a useful model system for studying the temperature adaptation process in eukaryotic cells.

Triacylglycerol turnover in Tetrahymena pyriformis. Relation to phospholipid synthesis

The metabolic function of triaclyglycerol in Tetrahymena pyriformis was investigated by prelabeling endogenous lipid with a 14C-labeled short chain fatty acid, and then following the disappearance of radioactivity from triacylglycerol and its appearance in other products. In 90 min, up to 85% of the label in triacylglycerol turns over, and although some radioactivity appears in CO2 and glycogen, most of the label appears in phospholipid. Starvation of the cells, as well as resuspension in enriched medium or provision of acetate all block triacylglycerol breakdown, while supplementation of the medium with pyruvate does not. Prelabeling lipid with [3H] glycerol shows that some of the transfer of material from triacylglycerol to phospholipid involves transfer of the glycerol backbone, although transfer of triacylglycerol fatty acids directly to phospholipid probably also occurs. In addition, the catabolism of triacylglycerol occurs by a "last-in-first-out" mechanism, indicating some form of compartmentation of triacylglycerol in this cell. The results demonstrate an important metabolic interrelationship between triacylglycerol catabolism and phospholipid synthesis and raise the question, in this cell at least, of the validity of considering triacylglycerol only as a fuel storage form.

Membranes of Tetrahymena. IV. Isolation and characterization of temperature-responsive smooth and rough microsomal subfractions

Temperature-responsive microsomes of the ciliate protozoan Tetrahymena have been originally fractionated by step centrifugation on two-layered, Mg2+-containing sucrose gradients. Three fractions have been obtained, which are termed smooth I, smooth II and rough according to the appearance of the membrane vesicles upon electron-microscopy. Smooth I, smooth II, and rough microsomes exhibit RNA/protein ratios of 0.09, 0.20, and 0.34; their phospholipid/protein ratios and their neutral lipid/phospholipid ratios were 0.52, 0.43 and 0.25, and 0.17, 0.18 and 0.13, respectively. All three fractions contain equivalent, low succinic dehydrogenase and 5'-nucleotidase activities. Glucose-6-phosphatase and acid phosphatase are more concentrated in smooth I membranes than in rough membranes. The reverse is true for ATPase. The smooth II membranes occupy an intermediate position except that their ATPase activity is the lowest of the three fractions. The specific activities of these enzymes of the three microsomal fractions are compared to those of homogenates of whole cells. Thin-layer chromatography reveals a very similar polar and nonpolar lipid pattern of the three microsomal fractions. The major phospholipid compounds are phosphatidlethanolamine, glycerideaminoethylphosphonate and phosphatidylcholine, while diglycerides, an unknown NL-compound, and triglycerides are the major apolar lipids. Gas liquid chromatography shows that the fatty acids are mainly even-numbered ranging between C12 and C18. The smooth I, smooth II and rough membranes contain 65.2, 69.3 and 72.7% unsaturated fatty acids in their polar lipids, whereas only 52.7, 49.7 and 48.3% unsaturated acids are found in their apolar lipids, respectively. The fatty acids are more unevenly distributed among the individual polar lipids than in the apolar ones.

Studies on tetrahymena membranes. Modification of surface membrane lipids by replacement of tetrahymanol by exogenous ergosterol in Tetrahymena pyriformis

Tetrahymena pyriformis WH-14 cells were grown in the medium supplemented with ergosterol (1 mg/100 ml) and the effects of replacement of tetrahymanol by ergosterol upon the lipid composition in the surface membranes (cilia and pellicles) were examined. 1. By scanning and freeze-etch electron microscopy it was suggested that exogenous ergosterol would be inserted into the lipid regions in the surface membranes. Although freeze-etched faces of filipin-treated membranes containing the native tetrahymanol showed a random distribution of 85-a protein particles, the ergosterol-replaced membranes after the same polyene treatment revealed the marked ultrastructural alterations on the fracture faces. 2. The replacement of tetrahymanol in membranes by ergosterol induced a profound alteration in the phospholipid class composition and a marked increase in phosphatidylethanolamine with a compensatory decrease in phosphatidylcholine and 2-aminoethylphosphonolipid. 3. There are significant and quantitative but not qualitative changes in the fatty acid composition of total lipids from the ergosterol-replaced membranes. There are also increases in saturated and decreases in unsaturated fatty acids. Phosphatidylethanolamine acyl chains particularly become more saturated, as compared with two other phospholipids, in ergosterol-replaced pellicles. This increase in saturation is due to an appreciable increase in C14:0, C16:0 and iso-C17:0, and a decrease in C18:1(delta9), C18:2(delta9,12) and C18:3(delta6,9,12). 4. These results suggest that profound alterations in phospholipids as well as in their fatty acyl chains are required to modify the overall membrane lipid composition for the maintenance of proper membrane fluidity. Our data would also support the thesis that polat head groups are involved in the membrane lipid organization and that sterols interact selectively with phospholipid molecules containing the appropriate fatty acyl chain composition in biological membranes.