Generative Nucleus Control over Cell Vegetative Functions in Paramecium

An investigation has been carried on clones of Paramecium caudatum , P. bursaria , P. putrinum , P. woodruffi and P. jenningsi in which the micronuclei were removed by UV microbeam. It has been shown that beside the activity of the macronucleus, in the normal vital activity of ciliates during the vegetative phase of life the micronucleus plays also an important role. On the ground of these investigations the authors set up a hypothesis on the role of functional activity of generative nuclei in ciliates. It is stated that execution of a complete range of vegetative functions controlled by the nuclear apparatus involves not only the transcription activity of MA but also some activity of MI genome. Various aspects of this hypothesis are discussed with literature data.