Stentor coeruleus
| Stentor coeruleus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Clade: | Diaphoretickes |
| Clade: | SAR |
| Clade: | Alveolata |
| Phylum: | Ciliophora |
| Class: | Heterotrichea |
| Order: | Heterotrichida |
| Family: | Stentoridae |
| Genus: | Stentor |
| Species: | S. coeruleus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Stentor coeruleus Ehrenberg, 1830[1]
| |
Stentor coeruleus is a protist in the family Stentoridae which is characterized by being a very large ciliate that measures 0.5 to 2 millimetres when fully extended.
Stentor coeruleus specifically appears as a very large trumpet. It contains a macronucleus that looks like a string of beads that are contained within a ciliate that is blue to blue-green in color. Being that it has many myonemes, it has the ability to contract into a ball. It has the ability to swim while both fully extended or contracted.[2]
Eating is accomplished using cilia that carry food into the ciliate's gullet.
DNA
The genome sequence revealed two remarkable aspects.[3] The genetic code is the "universal" code, which is somewhat unusual for ciliates. Also, the introns are unusually small, only 15 or 16 nucleotides long.
Reproduction
Stentor coeruleus are capable of sexual reproduction, or conjugation, but primarily reproduce asexually by binary fission.[4]
References
- ^ "Protist Images: Stentor coeruleus". Protist.i.hosei.ac.jp. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ Rotkiewicz, Piotr. "Stentor - Droplet Photo Gallery". Droplet - Microscopy of the Protozoa.
- ^ Slabodnick MM, Ruby JG, Reiff SB, Swart EC, Gosai S, Prabakaran S, Witkowska E, Larue GE, Fisher S, Freeman RM Jr, Gunawardena J, Chu W, Stover NA, Gregory BD, Nowacki M, Derisi J, Roy SW, Marshall WF, Sood P (2017). "The Macronuclear Genome of Stentor coeruleus Reveals Tiny Introns in a Giant Cell". Current Biology. 27 (4): 569–575. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.057. PMC 5659724. PMID 28190732.
- ^ "Stentor - microbewiki". Microbewiki.kenyon.edu. Retrieved 9 January 2019.