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. 2011 Nov 29;6(11):e28022. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0028022

Figure 5. Chemoattraction behavior is altered in the G6 knockout cell line.

Figure 5

A. The chemoattraction assay commonly used in Tetrahymena (two-phase assay) showed that proteose peptone (PP, 1 mg/ml) and lysophosphatidic acid (LPA, 10 µM) are chemoattractants for wild-type two-day starved cells. Data represents the % of cells that accumulated in the lower phase after 30 min., n = 3 separate cultures. Chemoattraction responses were not present in the G6 mutant cell line. B. Three-way stop cock assay typically used for ciliate behavior analysis. While wild-type showed chemoattraction to either 1 mg/ml PP or 10 µM LPA, G6 is significantly less than wild-type in both cases. The G6 mutant showed no attraction towards either PP or LPA, n = 5. C. Transfer of cells from the control solution (Tris) to either PP or LPA significantly decreases the percent of directional changes (PDC) in wild-type. A decrease in PDC has been associated with chemoattraction responses in ciliates. The G6 mutant does not show a significant decrease in PDC because the PDC level is already low. n = 3 experiments, ∼30cells each. Significance determined by student t-test<0.05 with bonferroni correction where applicable.