Ciliary Membranes and Mating Substances in Paramecium caudatum

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Abstract
Cilia detached from mating reactive cells of P. caudatum were fractionated for the purpose of identifying the structural component bearing mating substances. Purified axoneme fractions had no mating reactivity. The membrane fraction obtained by dialyzing against a solution of Tris-EDTA (0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.6) and 0.6 M KCl, and then by centrifuging over 40% (wt/vol) sucrose was strongly reactive. No mating reactivity was detected in the soluble fractions containing axonemal and matrix proteins. Mating substances in active form may be localized only on the ciliary membranes.