| Abstract: | SYNOPSIS. Protozoology, along with other cell sciences, has profited immeasurably during the last 25 years from the application of electron microscopy and other new technics to studies of cell structure and function. Protozoa were among the first objects examined with the electron microscope in the 1940's and an extensive literature in protozoan ultrastructure has accumulated since then. Some examples of recent investigations of ciliate cortical ultrastructure are selected to illustrate the importance of protozoan studies to the development of fundamental concepts of cell biology. Ciliates are choice subjects for analysis of ciliary structure and motility and of myoneme contractility. Membrane-limited alveoli contribute to the structure of the characteristic ciliate pellicle and provide evidence of how multiple pellicular membranes may affect cell-surface activities. The striated fibrils and microtubules associated with ciliate kinetosomes resemble those of other cell types but are more highly organized; wherever they occur, these structures appear to be related to the development and maintenance of polarity and asymmetry of cells and organelles. Their stability and the precision of their arrangement in ciliates make them peculiarly suitable for the study of the properties and behavior of such fibrous organelles and also for investigation of the morphogenetic role of the kinetosome. |
