Affiliation

The Department of Medicine, The Heart Rhythm Institute, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City

Corresponding Author

Benjamin J. Scherlag PhD, 1200 Everett Drive (6E103), Oklahoma City, OK. 73104, E-mail: benjamin-scherlag@ouhsc.edu

Citation

Scherlag, B.J. The Life Cycle of Dwarf Stentors. (2017) Lett Health Biol Sci 2(1): 45- 47.

Copy rights

© 2017 Scherlag, B.J. This is an Open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords

Abstract

  While studying the mode of encysting shown by large forms of the unicellular animal of the genus Stentor (500 - 1000 microns) we were able to consistently demonstrate the appearance of dwarf forms, not previously described, which arose from nuclei released from the disrupted larger cells. These larger cells had encysted in an unfavorable environment due to evaporation to a dry state.When sterile Stentor media was added to the deep well slides, active micronuclei were observed undergoing segmentation and separation into 2 or 4 dwarf Swimmers. Following the progression of these dwarfs over several days, allowed us to view their life cycle eventually leading to their own encysting stage.