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Mol Cell Biol. 1982 June; 2(6): 633-637

Role for Endocytosis in Conjugation in Tetrahymena

¹ Department of Microbiology, Upstate Medical Center, State University of New York, Syracuse, New York 13210
² Department of Biochemistry, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York 14642

ABSTRACT

We examined the effect of inhibitors of receptor-mediated endocytosis on cell pair formation during conjugation in Tetrahymena thermophila. Dansylcadaverine (20 µM), methylamine (20 mM), and bacitracin (2 mg/ml) prevented cell pair formation even when added poststarvation, after mixing of cells of opposite mating types (during the prepairing interaction). Chloroquine (10 and 25 µM) did not inhibit cell pair formation, leading to the conclusion that inhibition by dansylcadaverine, methylamine, and bacitracin is not due to an alkalinization of the lysosome. These results did not allow us to define the time in the prepairing interaction at which inhibition occurs, nor to identify the cellular components involved, but they did support the hypothesis that an endocytotic event(s) plays a role in the cell contact-mediated recognition which occurs during the prepairing interaction.