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Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Unicellular life does not exist…..or how to live in a macronucleus!

In my first blog I mentioned that I do not believe that unicellular life exists.  Well that is one of those statements that is subject to a lot of interpretation.  Let me explain.  First, single cells do exist, and some appear to lead independent lives, for instance creatures we call microbes like bacteria or paramecium.   So what then does the term unicellular mean? It is a term used to distinguish free living independent cells from those which live in tissues, or the multicellular condition.  Cells which live in this multicellular state live in close contact with other cells.  But I would argue that all cells live in close contact with other cells.
So how likely is it that you are going to find microbes living alone, in a true unicellular state.  Take a pinch of soil; you will find thousands of creatures living there, many interacting with each other.  Consider an amoeba or paramecium or other pond organism.  How many of these creatures do you know who live in their own private pond!  How many signs do you see posted around ponds or puddles that say…”get your own pond you scum-bag”, signed Peter Paramecium.
But really, lets get down to the nitty gritty, could you not isolate a single bacterium and give it a nice petri dish with lots of nutrients in the corner of your room? But wait a minute, about every 30 minutes, this guy will generate his own friends, within a few hours a full grown microbial party will be in force. I am wondering just how easy it is to isolate a single living bacterium.  How would you do it?  I challenge the microbiology students every year and tell them I will give them an A in the lab course if they can isolate and stain a single bacterium on a single microscope slide.  What would you have to do to accomplish this task? ( I might give some credit just for a protocol for how you would do this).
Lets face it.  Life is multicellular at every level.  But wait.  What about those pond organisms? they seem independent.  More and more studies are showing that most of these critters carry bacteria around.  There is even one strain that lives with a bacterium in its macronucleus.  Why in the world would you want to carry a bacterium in your macronucleus?   I have asked a lot of people, and no one has given me a satisfactory answer.  I have gotten some weird looks ….as if the person is thinking, what the heck is a macronucleus and why do I care?  
A lot of single celled pond organisms eat bacteria or algae. But there is one pond organism Paramecium bursarium which eats algae and bacteria but also knows how to ingest some algae and not digest them; instead it keeps them as energy harvesting slaves! Whoa!  How does it know to eat some critters and digest them and eat other critters an not digest them?  Remember this is a small creature with no brain and no nervous system.
So to review, my three main questions for the blog today are:
1 What is a macronucleus and why would you want to live there? cheap rent? cozy?
2 How would you isolate a single bacterial cell on a microscope slide?
3 How can Paramecium eat algae but not digest it?

4 What is significant about the concept that all living creatures are multicellular?
Next blog….more weird cells..

38 comments:

  1. Okay. I still have not found an answer to the first and third questions but I have started to grasp the second and the fourth question and will attempt to answer them.

    It seems that because of their extremely small size, bacteria and viruses are quite difficult, if not impossible, to isolate. This rules out the traditional micromanipulator and microinjector method. It seems that there is a new method of isolating these small organisms by using a non destructive laser beam to set up an "optical trap." How this method works, I have yet to find out.
    http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=p213088016118501&size=largest

    About the fourth question, it seems to me that because all creatures are multicellular in the fact that even the single celled organisms are found in a community of other single cells, this only proves the point that macroevolution could not be possible. Just as us humans need plants and animals to survive here on earth, there is a community, an essential co-existence of all organisms, even to the microscopic group of cells, in order to continue to survive.

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  2. 1.Now this is the definition of what I got for the first question from Answers.com:
    "The larger of two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans, which controls nonreproductive functions of the cell, such as metabolism."
    Then I had to look up what a ciliate protozoan (because I'm imperfect, and I can't remember everything I learn) and SO this is what I got:"ciliates, A group of single celled eukaryotic organisms characterized by the presence of hair-like organelles called cilia, which are identical in structure to flagella but typically shorter and present in much larger numbers with a different undulating pattern than flagella."
    Controls metabolism...in a single celled organism? That's crazy! I don't think it would be a cozy home Dr. Francis. It may not have reproductive functions, but it still has work to do!
    3. Now, how it doesn't digest some of the algae is something I don't completely understand..but I know that God doesn't always want us to understand all things. It gives us all the more reason to praise Him for His mighty works! From what I understand though...is that it has something that humans don't have (although it reminds me of how humans store fat and how some is used..). is it true that they have some food vacuole that stores the algae after the stomach fills up? That's just what I got from a website, but I wasn't sure..
    2. Now this question just made me think about how most people isolate things..we use ordinary items such as petri dishes, certain scientific tools, etc. Personally, I don't think it would be possible for me to isolate something so small. I know with God all things are possible, but to do it in an ordinary laboratory, I would definitely seek you Dr. Francis for help, because I have no clue!
    4. What is significant about about the concept that all living things are multicellular? Well, this would make me ponder upon what Sean said..if single celled organisms are found in communities of other single celled organisms, then technically they are never alone, (unless of course, a human were to isolate it). But once isolated, is it living? I just don't know. Thanks for the blog Dr. Francis! It makes me all the more grateful that God is in control of all things and brings life to things, that even I don't understand. :)

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  3. 1) So since Beth got her answer from Answers.com, I'll go the less credible way (Wikipedia). Wikipedia also says that the macronucleus is the larger type of nucleus in Ciliates. Wikipedia also said that the macronuclei are polyploid (they have more than one pair of chromosomes) and does not divide through mitosis but through direct division. Also macronuclei are involved every day tasks and functions of the cell such as metabolism, but they are not involved in reproduction. So in the end, I would not want to be a tiny bacteria living in a macronucleus! The poor bacteria are happily swimming along when they are engulfed by a unicellular (or is it?) organism and enslaved to do its bidding or worse, digested!

    2) No comment... too hard!

    3)I found a website that talks about how some plants and bacterial cells that produce chemicals that warn others not to eat it. It then talks about how some paramecium form symbiosis relationships with algae. So the question is: do some algae emit chemicals that allow the paramecium to see they shouldn't be digested, but they are allowed to engulf them? This is crazy seeing that these tiny creatures have no brains to think this through!
    http://www.morning-earth.org/graphic-e/biosphere/Bios-C-ProtistsProtozoa.htm

    4) Well if all creatures are multi cellular then it shows that all of creation is dependent on something. Even these seemingly "unicellular" creatures rely on bacteria or other things in order to survive and maintain homeostasis. Nothing is truly independent. This is a great concept to think about, especially for Christians, we are truly dependent on God and we cannot hope to see eternal life with HIm without relying on Him. \

    Thanks Dr. Francis for these thought provoking questions. See you soon!

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  4. 1.)no comment.

    2.)Stop a culture of cells from reproducing maybe using hormones that stall the process and then patiently wait until they all die until there are only a few left. Then kill the few that are left. I wouldn't know how to do that. Then I would take the last infertile cell stain it and put it on a slide.

    -David Jaimes



    3.) Same reason we can't digest certain foods

    4.)If we look at larger organism in nature such as the African Savanna we see that all of them are interlinked but that doesn't mean we can isolate a single species and keep it alive by providing food for it the only thing is that a single cell can reproduce all by it's self so its hard to isolate a single one unlike oh say zebras.

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  5. 1) According to britannica.com, a macronucleus is a "relatively large nucleus believed to influence many cell activities. It occurs in suctorian and ciliate protozoans (e.g., Paramecium). The macronucleus is associated with one or more smaller micronuclei, which are necessary for conjugation and autogamy (reproduction by exchange between the nuclei of different individuals and of the same individuals, respectively). When these reproductive processes occur, the macronucleus degenerates. It is re-formed from nuclear material in the zygote."

    As to why a "pond critter" would host a bacterium in its macronucleus, I do not know. It seems detrimental to have a foreign entity living in one's "brain," if you will. A guess would be that perhaps there is a parasitic relationship occurring...

    2) Honestly, I don't know, and I won't pretend to. All I do know is that I researched the topic a little bit online and found that cells can be isolated using a very complicated microfluidic device. However, any such device is not in the tool bag of us students, and may not even allow for the placing of a single cell on a basic microscope slide.

    3) There must be a complex chemical reason why the lysosomes of a Paramecium do not digest consumed algae. In awfully basic enzyme terms, the "key" must not fit the "lock."

    4) If it were proven that all living creatures are multicellular, then the reasons for unhealthy ecosystems could become more clear; this would be so because previously the weakness in an ecosystem may not have been associated with the loss or gain of seemingly independent life forms.

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  6. Great work everyone.

    Sean, I am not sure that the existence of community is a closed and shut case against evolution. However, there seems to be a massive community of microbes on earth which support life. Could they exist on their own without other creatures perhaps. However, it does not appear that macro-organisms can exist without this biomatrix. In addition, there is interdependency within this biomatrix. So it is difficult to conceive of life starting on earth with abiotic factors only.

    Sarah and David, good thoughts on the isolation of bacteria....Sean is on to something I think with his idea of optical trapping.

    Gage. Great thoughts about interdepency. Creation appears to exude this idea at every level.
    Great work everyone

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  7. I would still like to know what a bacterium does in a macronucleus. Seems like a scary place to keep your symbionts.

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  8. okay so question 1: a macronucleus as defined by biology-online.org describes it as a larger nucleus nucleus in ciliates. I remember from org bio that ciliates are super tiny organisms that have hair-like structures all around them. part of this nuclei in the ciliate protozoans later go through cell division. So why would they want to live there? Well, from everything that I DONT know yet, all I can say is that a macronucleus' job is to transcribe DNA, that's it, then it divides and transcribes more DNA. It starts off as one, and then is divided into many other cells. Who doesn't want to be in more than one place at once?
    2: Okay so at first I didn't think this was possible but after thinking about and reading over your post again... I started thinking- you say that with bacterial cells they start growing and reproducing and you can't stop them fast enough to isolate one cell. Well what if you went backwards? What if you took a group of cells and took away the things that make them multiply. Factors would be it's nutrients and good conditions like light, oxygen, water, temperature, etc. Maybe if you slowly took those things away, it would start dying off. Not all at once though. (hopefully) You can keep removing the dead bacterial cells and then you could eventually be left with one. Just maybe.
    3: are eating and digesting different from each other? my guess is that eating means that the organism takes the nutrients from whatever it's eating. digesting then must mean that it just swallows is but doesn't actually take nutrients from it. basically just meaningless space within itself. I don't know how the paramecium could not 'eat' the algae unless it would be harmful to the paramecium.. but then that raises the question if it was harmless, why would it be eating something that could have catastrophic consequences... and now Im back to I don't know.
    4. why are all living creatures multicellular? well I can't help but think are they? Have we as human beings discovered ALL living organisms? no. but I understand what you're asking. I don't know. maybe it's like Gage said and that it shows that all creation is dependent on something. It could be, and I think probably because everything leads back to God. He is very purposeful in His creation.
    thanks for the post Dr. Francis. Definitely has my brain turning.

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  9. Concerning the second question again, it seems that there is a method called "laser tweezers" or "optical trap," in which a high powered laser that is focused into a cone is able to lay hold of a small particle at its focal point because it can effect a small force on that particle.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiIRPk81bpk

    This method has been used to move cell organelles and to manipulate microscopic particles and organelles. The only problem would be to only isolate one bacterial cell as they are very small.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KC4rHjxWCDg

    And about the first question, I cannot find any reasons why the virus resides in the macronucleus. Maybe it is just because the macronucleus is bigger than the micronucleus and thus contains more strains of DNA and also more space to reside in?

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  10. 1. macronucleus: The larger the two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans; it controls the nonreproductive functions of the cell.
    I looked up why a bacteria would want to live in the macronucleus of a paramecium and found this example. "Paramecium caudatum hosts Holospora obtusa in its macronucleus. This bacteria is specific to the macronucleus of Paramecium caudatum; they cannot grow outside of this organism. This species acquires heat-shock resistance when infected with Holospora obtusa, which contributes to ciliary motion (http://microbewiki.kenyon.edu/index.php/Paramecium). So this implies that it would be a mutualistic relationship. It just shows how complex God created even these single-celled organisms. So this bacteria wants to live in the paramecium because it cannot grow outside of the organism and the paramecium want him there because of the heat-shock resistance from the bacteria that helps in its ciliary motion.
    2. No idea on this. I know we could not just isolate a single bacterial cell in our lab without any technology other than a microscope, but I don't know the method by which we could isolate one.
    3. I was thinking that maybe God gave them a certain mechanism so that they can know which algae they should digest and which to keep as energy harvesting slaves. Or maybe He just made it so that it is natural within them and they do not even have to do any delineating and whichever ones will be helpful are just naturally not digested.
    And to try to answer the question perhaps the mechanism goes off and there is some way that the organism knows not to digest the organism and releases it into the cytoplasm or wherever it would decide to keep this algae. But I honestly don't know.
    4. The concept that all living creatures are multicellular in that you cannot naturally isolate a unicellular organism without going through some crazy process is quite significant. It shows God's design in that we were all created to live together in a truly complex and amazing way and life is not really meant to exist on its own. Things build on each other in God's creation and there is complexity on every level. Even these unicellular organisms were made so that they do not have life on their own and truly do not live completely independent lives. It's fascinating to look into the complexity of life.
    Thanks for making us think :)

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  11. 1 What is a macronucleus and why would you want to live there? cheap rent? cozy? macronucleus, relatively large nucleus believed to influence many cell activities. Also thought to have something to do with further cell division, so maybe the virus resides in macronucleus is that when further cell division takes place then the virus spreads further. Just a thought not sure:)
    2 How would you isolate a single bacterial cell on a microscope slide? This would be rather difficult since many microorganisms are unicellular (single-celled), but this is not universal, since some multicellular organisms are microscopic.

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  12. 1. It looks like the definition of macronucleus has been mentioned several times, but here is a definition that I found from the free dictionary online "The larger of two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans, which controls nonreproductive functions of the cell, such as metabolism". I don't ever remember learning about macronucleus' before, so this is interesting to me! There are 2 nucleui in cells? Wow! God is creative! Bacteria must want to live there because they get something out of the deal, like a symbiotic relationship. I imagine it could be cozy and warm, but at this point, I don't know enough to say that is true.

    2. I don't know exactly how to do this, but it would be interesting to see it done! I think that to isolate a bacteria, you must be able to make it stop reproducing. You also might need to sterilize a petree dish so there is no food for the bacteria, but you can't kill it, either.

    3. I think this might be some kind of symbiotic relationship as well. I wonder if the algae has some sort of shell that is resistant to the paramecium's digestion. God can do anything!

    4. This is a very interesting thought. I think that God might be using this as an example to say that all living forms cannot live by themselves, independent from God and other species. In our Christian walk, we grow best while walking alongside each other to encourage and exhort. This is also why God created Eve to be a helpmate for Adam in the garden, even while everything was perfect!

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  13. 1. Wikipidia says

    "A macronucleus (formerly also meganucleus) is the larger type of nucleus in ciliates. Macronuclei are polyploid and undergo direct division without mitosis. It controls the non-reproductive cell functions, the everyday tasks, such as metabolism. During conjugation, the macronucleus disintegrates, and a new macronucleus is formed by karyogamy of the micronuclei. The macronucleus contains hundreds of chromosomes, each present in ~50 copies. The macronucleus lacks a mechanism to precisely partition this complex genome equally during nuclear division; thus how the cell manages to maintain a balanced genome after generations of divisions is a mystery."

    Perhaps the reason why the macronucleus would be benefited by having a bacterium live inside of it is that the bacterium somehow plays a role in partitioning the complex genome and helping to maintain a balanced genome. The next question would be, what benefit does the bacterium get by living in a macronucleus. I was not able to find any more details about what else a macronucleus contains. Maybe there is something produced in the macronucleus that the bacterium uses.

    3. When a Paramecium eats algae, the algae go into the cytoplasm through the gullet. At this point, the Paramecium may or may not release proteins to digest the algae. If the proteins are not released, either the Paramecium does not have necessary proteins to digest that particular algae, or the appropriate proteins are somehow prevented from being released. The Paramecium does not choose to digest one kind of algae and then only ingest another kind of algae. Rather, the Paramecium is able to digest one kind of algae and unable to digest other kinds.

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  14. I appreciate everyone's input here....Elizabeth has perhaps one of the more interesting and creative ideas about the bacterium that it is involved in partioning the DNA...fascinating.
    Dr Francis

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  15. 1. The larger of two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans, which controls nonreproductive functions of the cell, such as metabolism (answers.com). I do not prefer to live there, I'd rather live in a mansion. :)
    2. It doesn't seem possible to isolate one bacterial cell. If you pick up at least a million in a small handful of dirt, it just doesn't seem probable.
    3. On google it says the paramecium eat by the cilia sweeping the food into the oral groove into the gullet. I have no idea how it doesn't digest! That's weird.
    4. I think all organisms are multicellulared because even a single cell co-exists with other cells. It could be that the single cell is obviously larger than the others, but not alone. And like everyone else said that God created adam and eve so that eve can be a helper and supporter of adam to ultimately give glory to God.

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  16. Excellent thoughts from everyone..and some of what Dr. Francis discussed in principles of biology last semester!

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  17. Hhmm.. regarding Dr. Francis' first question, I think that the bacterium lives in the macronucleus because it maybe living off of something inside the macronucleus (maybe the chromosomes or anything else inside), like a symbiotic relationship. I'm not sure about this though, but I still think it's very possible.

    Also, concerning question number 4, I think this is significant because this shows us that God made living organisms in a way that we are dependent on other things. I personally believe that this humbles us and opens our eyes and minds that we really cannot boast in ourselves.

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  18. 3. Paracium and algae can have a mutualistic relationship where algae provides nutrients for Paracium in return for a safe protection, when Paracium can consume other food such as bacteria rather than algae. On the other hand, when there is limited resources for food, algae would be a delicious meal.
    4. The concept that all living creatures are multicellular shows God's plans for everthing depends on one another, just as how we must learn to depend on the Lord in difficulty and learning to care, to love, and to pray for one another in the love of Christ

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  19. My....I like your answer #4...your idea of interdependence..

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  20. Question #4 makes me think of when God created Adam and said that it is not good that the man should be alone so it reveals that God wants everything not to be isolated from each other but to live in a community.

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  21. 1. According to answers.com, a macronucleus is the larger of two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans, which controls the nonreproductive functions of the cell; such as metabolism. It also said it houses chromosomes and the DNA inside the macronucleus is actively transcribed. So why would you want to live there? I think it would be cool to have copies of yourself made over and over again.
    2. Not sure if this is anywhere near correct but i was reading online and this website wrote about how they used two fluorescent strains to isolate the bacteria, both being fluorescent proteins.
    http://www.springerlink.com/content/g6686tn100426246/
    3.im not sure about this but my guess is the algae is taken as a nutrient into the cytoplasm of the paramecium, while other things it eats it digest by going through its anal pore.
    4.it is significant that all living things are multicellular because it shows, I think, the complexity of all creatures and how so many cells can serve a different function. It also shows that though there are so many, they are all in a way dependent upon one another.

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  22. After some research, the cell’s macronucleus controls the everyday functions of the cell, while the micronucleus contains the information necessary for reproduction. The bacteria probably provide some sort of beneficial information to the macro nucleus which constitutes typical cell functions. This beneficial information is probably transferred to the cell’s DNA, because: even if the bacteria are removed, the paramecia still continues to exhibit the beneficial trait.

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  23. How would you isolate a single bacterial cell on a microscope slide?
    This would be practically impossible without some kind of high tech tools to complete this, since as it has been said above that there is multi-cellular life. Which means that somehow everything is living together yet in a way not easy to separate.

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  24. The macronucleus controls the life and functions of the cell, and as Erik said the micronucleus is responsible for reproduction. I am wondering if there is a way to separate the cells with some kind of dna or proteins because of the role they play in the paramecia?

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  25. well to answer that, we no that the macro-nucleus is the motherboard of the cell and the micronucleus is like a data base that holds all the cell secrets, the bacteria is like the direction manual which kind of tells the cell what to do everyday.
    2 to isolate one bacteria would be very difficult i guess it can be done but it would take a very long time to do so
    3 doesn't the paramecium kinda like eats the algae but then it just keeps it inside itself and uses the energy from it and uses its waste as food so that both of them get mutual benefit from the this.
    4 the significance is that multicellular organism have a kind of little urban city of cells in them and single cells are just all by themselves. plus if it was just single celled then it would not show the intricacies of Gods creations.

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  26. 1. The macronucleus is the non reproductive nucleus in a unicellular organism. And as an organism I suppose I would want to live there because it does not go through mitosis which means it would be easier to reproduce and transfer myself to other organisms without ever leaving the cell.
    2. I’m honestly not sure how this would work however if you could maybe culture a bacterium and surround it with some sort of repellent antibiotic or something maybe it could stop the division of the bacteria.
    3. I feel like maybe this is just the way God designed it. I think its body functions know what to use and what to store just like our metabolisms know what fat to store and what to burn up even though we don’t consciously think about this to make it happen.
    4. This is significant because it pretty much blows evolution out of the water. If unicellular life doesn’t exist than that means wither multicellular life had to appear all at once or lots of single celled organisms would have to evolve all at the same time.

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  27. 1. A macronucleus is a larger nucleus found in protozoans. These macronuclei have one or more micronuclei. During reproduction however, the macronucleus falls apart. It functions in cell metabolism and protein synthesis. It is divided into multiple cells during replication, so for something to live in it could make it easier to transfer itself to other cells.
    2. Would it be possible to find a cell in which meiosis and mitosis were not functioning correctly. Otherwise it would be hard to find a cell by itself, as they divide quickly into colonies.
    3. The algae is transported in using endocytosis. It is then put into a vacuole. Scientists believe that there is an inhibitor in the lysozomal fusion, most probably an enzyme.
    4 It is significant, because it completely disproves evolution. If there is no unicellular life, that means that life could not have started as a single cell as evolutionists believe. Instead, everything must have started multicellular.

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  28. 1. The macronucleus is a larger nuclei in the bacteria that is said to perform much of the larger activities carried out in the organism (www.britannica.com). My conclusion on why something would want to live, there based on our holospora research project, the holospora lives in the paramecium obtusa and cannot live anywhere else. There fore there must be some sort of symbiotic relationship. Also because its cozy, who wouldn’t want to live inside a bacteria?
    2. The best method I read that would properly isolate a bacteria was the Burri’s India ink method which involves emulsifying the bacteria into the ink and then dropped onto a gelatin place where they can separate a single organism through a series of processes and eventually placed into a fluid nutrient medium (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC378990/?page=2) . But I’m not sure how you would stop the thing from reproducing…
    3. The green algaelives in the cytoplasm of the paramecium bursaria providing a food source for the paramecium through photosynthesis.
    4. It shows the Lords design and how we lean on him and each other continuously and multicellular life reflects just that.

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  29. Macronucleus is a “relatively large nucleus believed to influence many cell activities. It occurs in suctorian and ciliate protozoans (e.g., Paramecium). The macronucleus is associated with one or more smaller micronuclei, which are necessary for conjugation and autogamy (reproduction by exchange between the nuclei of different individuals and of the same individuals, respectively). When these reproductive processes occur, the macronucleus degenerates. It is re-formed from nuclear material in the zygote.” (Britannica online). I would say the species that invades the macronucleus probably chooses this location to reside because it would be a safe place within the cell to reproduce. Once it has gained entry into the macronucleus (the hard part) it is protected inside it by the cell’s natural defense mechanisms to protect the macronucleus.

    I don’t know if this process would work for isolating these types of cells, but maybe you could use a process of Flow Cytometry (came across this technique as I was researching this, it’s defined as “a technique for counting and examining microscopic particles, such as cells and chromosomes, by suspending them in a stream of fluid and passing them by an electronic detection apparatus”) Maybe this process would allow for the isolation of these cells, then you could transfer it to the slide and view it. If they still replicate too quickly, I would just kill the cell and view it that way…hey at least then it wouldn’t reproduce…

    Paramecium can eat, but not digest, algae through the process of phagocytosis where the paramecium engulf the algae into its cytoplasm and the algae then travels to the nucleus, rather than passing through its digestive tract.

    The significance of multi-cellularity is that it makes evolutionary concepts of single-celled life as original life form difficult to support. If cells seem to interact constantly with other cells for survival and reproduction, how then could one single cell have survived to form other cells on its own..? multi-cellularity points to many life forms existing at one time, and therefore would point to a Creator.

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  30. 1. The macronucleus is a large nucleus found in cilliates that is responsible for regular metabloic functions in the cell though it is not responsible for mitosis or cell replication. Considering how protected the nuclei of a cell are, it would probab;y be a relatively safe place for a bacteria to exist.

    2. Tweezers... but they replicate so fast it's kinda pointless.

    3. Sowe learned about up regulation of proteins and stuff so maybe when the cilliate has enough nutrients there is some signal that causes the down regulation of enzymes that are able to digest algae. Then the algae is just stored.

    4. Basically if all cells are technically multicellular then that means that they depend on several other cells for survival which means that a bunch of cells would have had to arise from deade matter at the same time in the right conditions to reproduce and continue doing so. There's to much inter-connectedness to allow for random independent origin.

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  31. The macronucleus is the larger of two ciliate prokaryotic nuclei that controls the non-reproductive functions of the organism. Organisms like the Holospora (mentioned above) inhabits the macronucleus of the paramecium. The Holopsora obtusa can survive outside the Paramecium, but cannot reproduce.

    2. A predator could be introduced to the culture, and then killed off by a species-specific toxin before all the desired specimen is annihilated. The population could be further slimmed by physical extraction (micro-manipulation).

    3. The algae may have markers on it that prevent it from being engulfed by a phagolysosome but instead by simply a phagosome that would only bring it into the cell and not destroy it. These markers may be inherent on certain algae or placed there as result of other signalling patterns by the paramecium.

    4. The signifance of all cells being essentially multicellular is that life could not have originated from one cell according to the evolutionary model. Multiple cells had to exist for life to begin as is consistent with the creation model. Multicellularity strongly opposes a foundational evolutionary idea.

    http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/macronuclei

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  32. 1) "The larger nucleus (or sometimes nuclei) in ciliate protozoans. Derived from the micronucleus by a process of dna polytenisation. The dna in the macronucleus is actively transcribed. The macronucleus degenerates before conjugation. Part of the nuclei in protozoans responsible for cell division." Sometimes bacteria can benefit from the macronucleus, and the dna in the macronucleus can be "altered" for the better of the organism.

    2) Maybe specific algaes do not have lisosomes that phagosomes normally digest? :/
    -Sarah Gonzales

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  33. 1 macronucleus is the larger type of nucleus in ciliates. Macronuclei are polyploid and undergo direct division without mitosis. It controls the non-reproductive cell functions, the everyday tasks, such as metabolism. During conjugation, the macronucleus disintegrates, and a new macronucleus is formed by karyogamy of the micronuclei. The macronucleus contains hundreds of chromosomes, each present in over 50 copies. The macronucleus lacks a mechanism to precisely partition this complex genome equally during nuclear division; thus how the cell manages to maintain a balanced genome after generations of divisions is a myst. I would want to live in a macronucleus because I would get a fresh new macronucleus during every conjugation; it also controls many things such as metabolism.
    2 I would isolate it by getting two paramecium and have it eat all the bacterial cells until they come to the last bacterial cell. Then I would get some signal that eliminated both of them and walla one bacterial cell. Another option is two have the paramecium duke it out and hopefully they will be too exhausted to eat the last cell.
    3 The paramecium may keep the algae in its system and therefore never digested. It just sits there until it wants to get rid of it or do something with it and just disposes it.
    4 It is significant that they contain many cells because it allows them to move faster and live independently. They are single cellular creatures this gives them more flexibility. Multicellularity also gives you many options. If paramecium eats one cell it doesn’t matter because there are many others.

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  34. 2. Another way to Isolate the one cell would be to slow it's reproduction, factors such as temperature have been known to slow the reproduction of bacteria, secondly I would take a large cell preferably eukaryotic since it is larger and also they don't reproduce as fast as bacterium. I'd have a small culture of the cells at this point then activate receptors on the cells that encourage death and then slowly remove the dying cells awhile inhibiting reproduction of more cells by using an enzyme that would block the other reproductive receptors thus slowly eliminating the cells until only one cell that has had it's reproductive capabilities stalled so it can be studied individually.

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  35. (1)Macronucleus is the larger of two nuclei present in ciliate protozoans, which controls the nonreproductive functions of the cell. It contains hundreds of chromosomes.
    (3)In order for paramecium to eat algae without digesting it, it uses its cilia to sweep up food into the cell mouth, which the food falls into the oral groove after.
    (4)I am not sure what you are asking here. Are you asking the advantages of all organisms being multicellular? If all organisms were multicellular, I think that it would cause an imbalance in the ecosystem. This would show God’s wisdom in that all living things cannot live independently. God is sovereign over all living things.

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  36. the macronucleus is the larger type of nucleus in ciliates. they are polypoid and undergo direct division without mitosis.
    i dont really understand the third question. paramecium feed on organisms like bacteria, ALGAE, and yeasts. and as far as all the research i did it is digested "
    The food goes through the cell mouth into the gullet, which is like the stomach. When there is enough food in it so that it has reached a certain size it breaks away and forms a food vacuole. The food vacuole travels through the cell, through the back end first. As it moves along enzymes from the cytoplasm enter the vacuole and digest it."
    http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_paramecium_digest_it_food#ixzz1Lyndb4kt

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  37. 1 What is a macronucleus and why would you want to live there? cheap rent? cozy?
    im going to go with yes. and a macronucleus is the bigger nucleus compared to the other one in a cell with two nuclei. and answer to why: bigger is better. the grass is greener on the bigger hill because it has bigger sprinklers. it might be because of the larger amount of material, like there is more in the macronucleus ergo, greater chance of survival.

    2 How would you isolate a single bacterial cell on a microscope slide?
    isolation would be possible with putting a cell in an environment that it is very hard for it to reproduce in; as in circumstances that almost kill it, but don't. maybe. i am really not sure.

    3 How can Paramecium eat algae but not digest it?
    algae is to paramecium as chewing gum is to human intestines, it just doesn't digest. maybe its just a rule of nature. (and i am totally not sure on the whole gum thing. is it an urban myth?) it may just be too complex for it to break down. maybe the algae is just incredibly resistant.

    4 What is significant about the concept that all living creatures are multicellular?
    This allows living creatures to survive. unicellular life would not last very long. it is also amazing how all the cells work together. without one, another can't function. this shows the complexity of God's design. I can't seem to fully comprehend it.

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  38. So the benefit of doing these early blogs a little late in the game...is we've addressed some of the content in class, woot woot:)
    1. The macronucleus (obviously by its prefix macro) indicates that there is probably a micronucleus as well. So in ciliates, which are cells that have cilia to move around, there are two nuclei, a bigger one called the macronucleus and a smaller one called the micronucleus!

    2. I think its very possible to isolate one bacteria cell, and if you're going to do this, then might as well keep it alive right? Get some pond water which has a lot of bacteria, and then start centrifuging everything to the bottom and taking it out, until the bacterium becomes the heaviest thing. Once all the bacteria has been isolated. After this its pretty fuzzy, but I would try killing as many bacteria as possibly by limiting its resources, such as food and water and oxygen, then monitor the colony closely under a super microscope, until there is only one bacteria cell left.

    3. Just guessing, but paramecium probably eats the algae by moving around it and taking it within its cell, making it look like a mouth eating something like a peanut! However, the algae doesn't disappear, but it starts working for the paramecium and has all of its functions. So maybe it can use photosynthesis and get energy and the paramecium will get the energy from the algae without the algae being dead.

    4. If all living creatures are multicellular, then they must all be working together, and this kind of disproves evolution. Which cell came first? Its kind of like that question, what came first, the chicken or the egg. If a single cell cannot live without other cells, then we run into all sorts of problems, when I say we, I mean evolutionists...so then, I guess I should say, they have run into many problems!

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