{"doi":"10.1111/jeu.12109","title":"Characterization of the Life Cycle and Heteromeric Nature of the Macronucleus of the Ciliate <i>Chilodonella uncinata</i> Using Fluorescence Microscopy","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Only a limited number of studies exist on the life cycles of nonmodel ciliates such as <jats:italic>Chilodonella uncinata</jats:italic> (Cl: Phyllopharyngea). The handful of papers on this taxon indicate the presence of a heteromeric macronucleus, marked by separate <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">DNA</jats:styled-content>‐rich and <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">DNA</jats:styled-content>‐poor regions. Here, we study the life cycle of <jats:italic>C. uncinata</jats:italic> using confocal laser scanning microscopy with 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole staining, which allows us to differentiate nuclear dynamics of the micronucleus and the macronucleus during life‐cycle stages. We photo‐documented various stages and confirmed aspects of the development of the new macronucleus previously characterized by electron microscopy. We further reveal the heteromeric structure of the macronucleus with <jats:italic>Z</jats:italic>‐stacks and three‐dimensional (3D) reconstructions. We find no evidence for the presence of an endosome at the center of the macronucleus during vegetative growth. In addition to illustrating the life cycle of this ciliate, the approaches developed for this study will enable additional comparative analyses of nuclear dynamics using fluorescence microscopy.</jats:p>","journal":"Journal of Eukaryotic Microbiology","year":2014,"id":631314,"datarank":0.4493598410330987,"base_score":2.995732273553991,"endowment":2.995732273553991,"self_citation_contribution":0.4493598410330987,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.4493598410330987,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":19,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":null,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":false,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":null,"fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1636008,"name":"Xyrus X. Maurer‐Alcala","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":428463,"name":"Laura A. Katz","orcid":"0000-0002-9138-4702","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1636004,"name":"Laure Bellec","orcid":null,"position":0,"is_corresponding":false}],"reference_count":0,"raw_metadata":{"has_enrichment":true,"resolved":true,"title":"Characterization of the Life Cycle and Heteromeric Nature of the Macronucleus of the Ciliate <i>Chilodonella uncinata</i> Using Fluorescence Microscopy","abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Only a limited number of studies exist on the life cycles of nonmodel ciliates such as <jats:italic>Chilodonella uncinata</jats:italic> (Cl: Phyllopharyngea). The handful of papers on this taxon indicate the presence of a heteromeric macronucleus, marked by separate <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">DNA</jats:styled-content>‐rich and <jats:styled-content style=\"fixed-case\">DNA</jats:styled-content>‐poor regions. Here, we study the life cycle of <jats:italic>C. uncinata</jats:italic> using confocal laser scanning microscopy with 4′,6‐diamidino‐2‐phenylindole staining, which allows us to differentiate nuclear dynamics of the micronucleus and the macronucleus during life‐cycle stages. We photo‐documented various stages and confirmed aspects of the development of the new macronucleus previously characterized by electron microscopy. We further reveal the heteromeric structure of the macronucleus with <jats:italic>Z</jats:italic>‐stacks and three‐dimensional (3D) reconstructions. We find no evidence for the presence of an endosome at the center of the macronucleus during vegetative growth. In addition to illustrating the life cycle of this ciliate, the approaches developed for this study will enable additional comparative analyses of nuclear dynamics using fluorescence microscopy.</jats:p>","is_dataset_classified":null,"base_score":2.995732273553991,"endowment":2.995732273553991,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"views":0,"has_version_chain":false,"is_dataset":false,"is_oa":false,"pmid":"24547950","pmcid":"PMC4095865","openalex_id":"https://openalex.org/W1991553142","authors":[],"funders":[{"funder_name":"National Institutes of Health","grant_id":"1R15GM097722","title":null},{"funder_name":"NIGMS NIH HHS","grant_id":"R15 GM097722","title":null}],"total_grants":2,"fwci":0.5199,"citation_percentile":0.63101193,"influential_citations":0,"citation_trend":[{"year":2014,"count":1},{"year":2016,"count":2},{"year":2017,"count":1},{"year":2018,"count":3},{"year":2019,"count":1},{"year":2020,"count":1},{"year":2021,"count":2},{"year":2022,"count":2},{"year":2023,"count":2},{"year":2024,"count":3},{"year":2025,"count":1}],"oa_status":"green","license":"http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor","oa_locations":[{"url":"https://scholarworks.smith.edu/bio_facpubs/109","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://scholarworks.smith.edu/bio_facpubs/109","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fjeu.12109","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jeu.12109","host_type":"publisher"},{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1111/jeu.12109","host_type":"journal"},{"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24547950","host_type":"repository"},{"url":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/4095865","host_type":"repository"}],"fields_of_study":["Protist diversity and phylogeny","Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology","Micro and Nano Robotics"],"mesh_terms":["Life Cycle Stages","Ciliophora","Microscopy, Confocal","Imaging, Three-Dimensional","Macronucleus"],"keywords":["Macronucleus","Ciliate","Biology","Paramecium","Fluorescence microscope","Cell biology","Ciliata","Micronucleus","Fluorescence","Protozoa","Botany","Genetics","Optics","Micronucleus test","Chemistry","Confocal microscopy","vegetative cell","Nuclear Dynamics","Macronuclear Anlage"],"sdg_mappings":[{"sdg_number":0,"sdg_label":"Responsible consumption and production"}],"linked_datasets":[],"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"database_accessions":[],"source":"live","citation_network_status":"fetched"},"created_at":"2026-08-05T23:18:46.464933Z","pmid":null,"pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}