SURFACE-MEMBRANE HYDROPHOBICITY OF PARAMECIUM-PRIMAURELIA MATING TYPES - ANALYSIS UNDER IMMATURITY AND MATURITY CONDITIONS

Paramecium primaurelia stock 90 clones were examined in their mating i mmaturity and maturity stages, under starving conditions triggering ma ting reactivity in mature cells. Living samples were labelled by cyclo heptaamilose-dansyl chloride (CDC) complex, which has been proved to b e an effective fluorescent marker of outer membrane proteins in living ciliates, as well as a sensitive probe towards microenvironment hydro phobicity. The analysis of CDC-labelled surface membrane region, usual ly engaged in conjugation, of immature and unpaired mature cells of ma ting types I and II, reveals differences in emission spectra, which ca n be referred to different hydrophobicity conditions. These findings l ead us to assume that variations in surface membrane chemico-physical properties, differently affecting CDC fluorescence spectra, would be m ating type-dependent and related to the functional states of cell imma turity or maturity, thus supporting the suggested role of hydrophobic interactions in Paramecium pair formation.