Ciliates
"Ciliata" from Ernst Haeckel's Kunstformen der Natur, 1904
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota Kingdom: Chromalveolata Superphylum: Alveolata Phylum: Ciliophora Doflein, 1901 emend.
Classes
Karyorelictea Heterotrichea Spirotrichea Litostomatea Phyllopharyngea Nassophorea Colpodea Prostomatea Oligohymenophorea Plagiopylea See text for subclasses. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2314x3276, 1714 KB) Summary The 3rd plate from Ernst Haeckels Kunstformen der Natur (1904), depicting organisms classified as Ciliata. ... Ernst Haeckel. ... The 8th print, Discomedusae. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Kingdoms Eukaryotes are organisms with complex cells, in which the genetic material is organized into membrane-bound nuclei. ... The chromalveolates (Chromalveolata) are a hypothetical grouping of eukaryotes, comprising the Chromista and alveolates, as suggested by Tom Cavalier-Smith. ... The alveolates are a major line of protists. ... Typical orders Heterotrichida Armophorida Phacodiniida Odontostomatida Licnophorida Clevelandellida Plagiotomida The heterotrichs are a class of ciliates. ... Typical sublasses Subclass Hypotrichia Subclass Stichotrichia Subclass Oligotrichia Subclass Choreotrichia The spirotrichs are a large and distinctive group of ciliate protozoa. ... Typical orders Subclass Haptoria     Haptorida     Pleurostomatida Subclass Trichostomatia     Vestibulifera     Entodiniomorphida The Litostomatea are a class of ciliate protozoa, divided into two groups, ranked as subclasses. ... Typical orders Subclass Phyllopharyngia     Chlamydodontida     Dysteriida Subclass Chonotrichia     Exogemmida     Cryptogemmida Subclass Rhynchodia     Rhynchodida     Hypocomatida Subclass Suctoria     Exogenida     Endogenida     Evaginogenida The Phyllopharyngea are a class of ciliate protozoa, including some which are extremely specialized. ... Typical orders Synhymeniida Nassulida Microthoracida The Nassophorea are a class of ciliate protozoa. ... Typical orders Colpodida Bursariomorphida Cyrtolophosida Bryophryida Sorogenida Bryometopida The Colpodea are a class of ciliate protozoa, common in freshwater and soil habitats. ... Typical orders Subclass Peniculia     Peniculida Subclass Hymenostomatia     Hymenostomatida Subclass Scuticociliatia     Philasterida     Pleuronematida     Thigmotrichida Subclass Astomatia     Astomatida Subclass Apostomatia     Apostomatida     Astomatophorida     Pilisuctorida Subclass Peritrichia     Sessilida     Mobilida The Oligohymenophorea are a large class of ciliate protozoa. ... Typical families Plagiopylidae Sonderidae The plagiopylids are a small order of ciliate protozoa, including a few forms common in anaerobic habitats. ...

The ciliates are one of the most important groups of protists, common almost everywhere there is water — lakes, ponds, oceans, and soils, with many ecto- and endosymbiotic members, as well as some obligate and opportunistic parasites. Ciliates tend to be large protozoa, a few reaching 2 mm in length, and are some of the most complex in structure. The name ciliate comes from 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. Cilia occur in all members of the group (although the peculiar suctoria only have them for part of the life-cycle) and are variously used in swimming, crawling, attachment, feeding, and sensation. Typical phyla Chromalveolata Chromista Heterokontophyta Haptophyta Cryptophyta (cryptomonads) Alveolata Dinoflagellata Apicomplexa Ciliophora (ciliates) Cabozoa Excavata Euglenozoa Percolozoa Metamonada Rhizaria Radiolaria Foraminifera Cercozoa Archaeplastida (in part) Rhodophyta (red algae) Glaucophyta (basal archaeplastids) Amoebozoa Choanozoa Many others; classification varies Protists (IPA: (RP); (GenAm)), Greek protiston -a meaning the (most) first of all... Blowdown Lake in the mountains near Pemberton, British Columbia A lake (from Latin lacus) is a body of water or other liquid of considerable size contained on a body of land. ... Two people reflected in a fish pond A pond is typically a man made body of water smaller than a lake. ... Animated map exhibiting the worlds oceanic waters. ... Loess field in Germany Surface-water-gley developed in glacial till, Northern Ireland Technically, soil forms the pedosphere: the interface between the lithosphere (rocky part of the planet) and the biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere. ... Ectosymbiosis is symbiosis in which the symbiont lives on the body surface of the host, including internal surfaces such as the lining of the digestive tube and the ducts of glands. ... An endosymbiont (also known as intracellular symbiont) is any organism that lives within cells of another organism, i. ... Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about: Protozoa Protozoa (in Greek proto = first and zoa = animals) are single-celled eukaryotes (organisms whose cells have nuclei) that commonly show characteristics usually associated with animals, most notably mobility and heterotrophy. ... cross-section of two motile cilia, showing the 9+2 structure A cilium (plural cilia) or undulipodium (pl. ... // A flagellum (plural: flagella) is a long, slender projection from the cell body, composed of microtubules and surrounded by the plasma membrane. ... Typical orders Exogenida Endogenida Evaginogenida Suctoria are peculiar ciliates which are sessile, feed by extracellular digestion and lack cilia in the adult phase. ...

Cell structure

Unlike other eukaryotes, ciliates have two different sorts of nuclei: a small, diploid micronucleus (reproduction), and a large, polyploid macronucleus (general cell regulation). The latter is generated from the micronucleus by amplification of the genome and heavy editing. Division of the macronucleus occurs by amitosis, the segregation of the chromosomes is by a process, whose mechanism is unknown. This process is by no means perfect, and after about 200 generations the cell shows signs of aging. Periodically the macronuclei must be regenerated from the micronuclei. In most, this occurs during sexual reproduction, which is not usually through syngamy but through conjugation. Here two cells line up, the micronuclei undergo meiosis, some of the haploid daughters are exchanged and then fuse to form new micro- and macronuclei. Kingdoms Eukaryotes are organisms with complex cells, in which the genetic material is organized into membrane-bound nuclei. ... HeLa cells stained for DNA with the Blue Hoechst dye. ... Diploid (meaning double in Greek) cells have two copies (homologs) of each chromosome (both sex- and non-sex determining chromosomes), usually one from the mother and one from the father. ... A micronucleus is the smaller nucleus in ciliate protozoans. ... Polyploid (in Greek: πολλαπλόν - multiple) cells or organisms contain more than one copy (ploidy) of their chromosomes. ... A macronucleus (formerly also meganucleus) is the larger type of nucleus in ciliates. ... Sex reproduction is a union that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. ... Categories: Biological reproduction | Biology stubs ... Conjugation may refer to: Grammatical conjugation, the modification of runnign a verb from its basic form Latin conjugation, Spanish conjugation and The English verb, each with complex conjugation forms Marriage, relationship between two individuals In mathematics: Complex conjugation, the operation which multiplies the imaginary part of a complex number by... Not to be confused with miosis. ... Haploid (meaning simple in Greek) cells have only one copy of each chromosome. ...

With a few exceptions, there is a distinct cytostome or mouth where ingestion takes place. Food vacuoles are formed through phagocytosis and typically follow a particular path through the cell as their contents are digested and broken down via lysosomes so the substances the vacuole contains are then small enough to diffuse through the membrane of the food vacuole into the cell. Anything left in the food vacuole by the time it reaches the cytoproct (anus) is discharged via exocytosis. Most ciliates also have one or more prominent contractile vacuoles, which collect water and expel it from the cell to maintain osmotic pressure, or in some function to maintain ionic balance. These often have a distinctive star-shape, with each point being a collecting tube. A cytostome or cell mouth is a part of a cell specialized for phagocytosis, usually in the form of a microtubule-supported funnel or groove. ... Schematic of typical animal cell, showing subcellular components. ... Steps of a macrophage ingesting a pathogen: a. ... Lysosomes are organelles in eukaryotic cells that contain digestive enzymes to digest macromolecules. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This page is currently under construction. ...

Feeding

Most ciliates feed on smaller organisms (heterotrophic), such as bacteria and algae, and detritus swept into the mouth by modified oral cilia. These usually include a series of membranelles to the left of the mouth and a paroral membrane to its right, both of which arise from polykinetids, groups of many cilia together with associated structures. This varies considerably, however. Some ciliates are mouthless and feed by absorption, while others are predatory and feed on other protozoa and in particular on other ciliates. This includes the suctoria, which feed through several specialized tentacles. Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... A seaweed (Laurencia) up close: the branches are multicellular and only about 1 mm thick. ...

Specialized structures

In some forms there are also body polykinetids, for instance, among the spirotrichs where they generally form bristles called cirri. More often body cilia are arranged in mono- and dikinetids, which respectively include one and two kinetosomes (basal bodies), each of which may support a cilium. These are arranged into rows called kineties, which run from the anterior to posterior of the cell. The body and oral kinetids make up the infraciliature, an organization unique to the ciliates and important in their classification, and include various fibrils and microtubules involved in coordinating the cilia. Typical sublasses Subclass Hypotrichia Subclass Stichotrichia Subclass Oligotrichia Subclass Choreotrichia The spirotrichs are a large and distinctive group of ciliate protozoa. ... Microtubules are one of the components of the cytoskeleton. ...

The infraciliature is one of the main component of the cell cortex. Another are the alveoli, small vesicles under the cell membrane that are packed against it to form a pellicle maintaining the cell's shape, which varies from flexible and contractile to rigid. Numerous mitochondria and extrusomes are also generally present. The presence of alveoli, the structure of the cilia, the form of mitosis and various other details indicate a close relationship between the ciliates, Apicomplexa, and dinoflagellates. These superficially dissimilar groups make up the alveolates. i love men The pellicle is a thick layer supporting the cell membrane in various protozoa, allowing them to retain their shape. ... Electron micrograph of a mitochondrion showing its mitochondrial matrix and membranes In cell biology, a mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) (from Greek μιτος or mitos, thread + χονδριον or khondrion, granule) is a membrane-enclosed organelle, found in most eukaryotic cells. ... Extrusomes are membrane-bound structures in some eukaryotes which, under certain conditions, discharge their contents outside the cell. ... Classes & Subclasses Aconoidasida Haemosporasina Piroplasmasina Blastocystea Conoidasida Coccidiasina Gregarinasina The Apicomplexa are a large group of protozoa, characterized by the presence of a unique organelle called an apical complex. ... Classes Dinophyceae Noctiluciphyceae Syndiniophyceae The dinoflagella are a large group of flagellate protists. ... The alveolates are a major line of protists. ...

Classification

Phylum Ciliophora

• Class Karyorelictea
• Class Heterotrichea (e.g. Stentor)
  

  

  Stentor roeseli
• Class Spirotrichea
  • Subclass Choreotrichia (e.g. Tintinnidium)
  • Subclass Oligotrichia (e.g. Halteria)
  • Subclass Stichotrichia (e.g. Stylonychia)
  • Subclass Hypotrichia (e.g. Euplotes)
• Class Litostomatea
  • Subclass Haptoria (e.g. Didinium)
  • Subclass Trichostomatia (e.g. Balantidium)
    

    

    A trophozoite of Balantidium coli
• Class Phyllopharyngea
  • Subclass Phyllopharyngia
  • Subclass Rhynchodia
  • Subclass Chonotrichia
  • Subclass Suctoria (e.g. Podophrya)
• Class Nassophorea
• Class Colpodea (e.g. Colpoda)
• Class Prostomatea (e.g. Coleps)
• Class Oligohymenophorea
  • Subclass Peniculia (e.g. Paramecium)
  • Subclass Hymenostomatia (e.g. Tetrahymena)
  • Subclass Scuticociliatia
  • Subclass Peritrichia (e.g. Vorticella)
  • Subclass Astromatia
  • Subclass Apostomatia
• Class Plagiopylea