Detergent-extracted cell models of the euglenoid flagellate, Astasia longa, were obtained that rounded-up on addition of calcium. Treatment with 4% Triton X-100 and Nonidet P-40 removed the flagellar membrane, all membranous structures inside the cell body and the plasma membrane at groove regions of the cell surface. Maximum rounding-up was induced when the concentration of free calcium was raised to greater than or equal to 10(−7) M, and ATP strongly enhanced this response. The ionic requirements and sensitivity to vanadate were different from those for the reactivation of flagellar movement. The results suggest that the mechanism of force generation is different from the dynein-based system of the flagellum and that a rise in cytoplasmic free Ca2+ concentration might cause euglenoid movement in vivo. The mechanism of euglenoid movement is discussed in relation to other protozoan motile systems.

Using its microtubule-containing axopodia, a heliozoan Echinosphaerium nucleofilum feeds on various kinds of protozoans and small metazoans. The present study revealed that food capture and ingestion were carried out in 2 different ways or by a combination of them. The first one was by the rapid contraction of axopodia, by which the food organism was conveyed directly toward the body surface. After such a contraction, many of the microtubules which had been present inside the axopodia degraded and were replaced by C-shaped microtubules. Bundles of tubular bodies were also detected alongside the axonemal microtubules, especially following the use of glutaraldehyde fixative containing ruthenium red. The second method was by means of axopodial flow, by which a food organism attached to an axopodium was conveyed to the body surface along the axopodial surface without accompanying axopodial degradation or contraction. Subsequently the food organism was surrounded by several small pseudopodia to form a food vacuole; many filamentous structures (5-10 nm in diameter) were observed inside the pseudopodia. During the ingestion process many cytoplasmic extensions, including rosary-like filaments, were observed to protrude from the contracted axopodia and the cell body. Mottled dense granules were observed to be discharged from the axopodial surface just when the prey was captured.