Paramecium

Dyastri Intan Pratiwi Kelas X.6

Remedial Biologi Bab Protista
 What Is Paramecium?
A paramecium is a small one celled (unicellular)
living organism that can move, digest food, and
reproduce. They belong to the kingdom of Protista,
which is a group (family) of similar living micro-
organisms.  Micro-organism means they are a very
small living cell. You might be able to see one as a
tiny moving speck if your eyesight is extremely good
but for any detail at all you need a microscope to
look at and study them.  They are about .02 inches
long (.5mm). 
 Paramecium, like all protist, are single-celled
organisms. Cells are the building blocks for
all life forms. "Single-celled" means that a
paramecium has only one cell for its entire
body. Most plants and animals have more
cells than you can count.

 The inside of a paramecium is a jelly-like

fluid called protoplasm. Bits of food and
other materials float around in the
protoplasm.
 Movement
 The outer surface of the cell is covered with many
hundreds of tiny hair-like structures called cilia. These
act like microscopic oars to push through the water,
enabling the organism to swim. The speed of motion is
about four times its own length per second. It moves so
quickly that microscopists have to add a thickening
agent to the water to slow it down to study it.

 As it moves through the water it rotates on its axis and

small particles of debris and food are collected and
swept into the gullet. If Paramecium comes across an
obstacle, it stops, reverses the beating of the cilia, swims
backwards, turns through an angle and moves forward
again on a slightly different course.
 Paramecium Structure
 Pellicle - a membrane covering that
protects the paramecium like skin
 Cilia - hair like appendages that help
the paramecium move food into the oral
groove
 Oral Groove - collects and directs food
into the cell mouth
 Cell Mouth - opening for food
 Contractile Vacuole - contracts and forces extra water out of the cell
 Anal Pore - disposes of waste
 Radiating Canals - paths to the contractile vacuole
 Cytoplasm - intercellular fluid needed to contain vital cell parts
 Trichocyst - used for defense
 Gullet - forms food vacuoles
 Food Vacuole - storage pocket for food
 Macronucleus - larger nucleus which performs normal cell functions
 Micronucleus - smaller nucleus which is responsible for cell division.
How’s Paramecium Reproduce?
Paramecium are capable of both sexual and asexual
reproduction. Asexual reproduction is the most common,
and this is accomplished by the organism dividing
transversely. The macronucleus elongates and splits.
Under ideal conditions, Paramecium can reproduce
asexually two or three times a day.
Normally, Paramecium only reproduce sexually under
stressful conditions. This occurs via gamete agglutination
and fusion. Two Paramecium join together and their
respective micronuclei undergo meiosis. Three of the
resulting nuceli disintegrate, the fourth undergoes
mitosis. Daughter nuclei fuse and the cells separate. The
old macronucleus disintegrates and a new one is formed.
This process is usually followed by asexual reproduction.
 This picture show how
Paramecium reproduce with
conjugate
 WHAT IS THE DETAILED
PARAMECIUM TAXONOMY?
Super Kingdom Eukaryotae
Kingdom  Animalia 
   Phylum  Ciliophora
      Class  Ciliatea
        Subclass  Rhabdophorina
           Order  Hymenostomatida
             Suborder  Peniculina
               Family  Parameciidae
                 Genus  Paramecium
                    Species  aurelia, bursaria, caudatum ...
 Reference
 Volume 1 of "Synopsis and Classification of Living
Organisms" by Sybil P. Parker, ©1982, McGraw Hill.
 http://101science.com/paramecium.htm
 http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?
http://www.microscopy-
uk.org.uk/mag/articles/param1.html
 http://www.ardianrisqi.com/2009/12/ciri-ciri-
paramecium.html