It can be distinguished by having a globular macronucleus surrounded by many refractive granules and a big preoral dome.
12.
Known functions include : transporting phagosomes to the nucleus and perturbing the developmentally regulated elimination of the macronucleus during conjugation.
13.
Because the macronucleus divides amitotically during binary fission, these minichromosomes are un-equally divided between the clonal daughter cells.
14.
The macronucleus is long, and may be curved, horseshoe-shaped or twisted into a shape resembling a figure eight.
15.
Division of the macronucleus occurs by amitosis, and the segregation of the chromosomes occurs by a process whose mechanism is unknown.
16.
On the other hand, only the DNA in the macronucleus is actively expressed and results in the phenotype of the organism.
17.
The recent sequencing of the macronucleus genome should ensure that " Tetrahymena " will be continuously used as a model system.
18.
The polyploid nature of the macronucleus refers to the fact that it contains approximately 200 300 autonomously replicating linear DNA mini-chromosomes.
19.
The larger polyploid macronucleus is transcriptionally active, meaning its genes are actively expressed, and so it controls somatic cell functions during vegetative growth.
20.
In T . thermophila each of these minichromosomes encodes multiple genes and exists at a copy number of approximately 45-50 within the macronucleus.
