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INTRODUCTION
I. Objectives ● To familiarize with the structures of the Paramecium and its function on how it will help the organism itself. ● To observe the response of the Paramecium to various stimuli such as contact, chemical, gravity, electricity, magnetic field, temperature, and light. ● To understand the digestive process of the Paramecium. ● To determine the function and importance of contractive/contractile vacuole as a regulatory organelle. II. Hypothesis The sample organism which is the Paramecium will have varying responses to the different stimuli. A negative and a positive response will be expected upon subjugating the Paramecium to the stimuli. These responses are because of the structure of the Paramecium and its function. This will also affect the digestive process and the osmoregulation of the microorganism. III. Significance/Limitation This laboratory experiment aims to acquaint students to the study of physiology by the introduction of the physiological processes in unicellular organisms, noting that these organisms possess numerous specialized organelles/structures homologous to the different organs found in higher organisms. This was limited to studying Paramecium through several experiments, e.g., examining its structures and analyzing its responses to various stimuli. Observations regarding its digestion and osmoregulation were also done via watching the recommended video clips. The stimuli are limited to contact, chemicals (e.g. weak acid, strong acid, weak base, and strong base), gravity, electrical, magnetic fields, temperature, and light (e g. green and red).
METHODOLOGY
I. Material/Equipment The materials used to examine the structure of Paramecium were the culture of Paramecium , dropper, clean slide, and magnifying glass. The materials needed to analyze the responses organism in study to various stimuli were the Paramecium culture, black polythene sheets, teased cotton fibers, colored transparent sheets, 1.5 volt battery cell , 2 bar magnets, dissolved salt, insulated electric wire, soft paraffin slide, magnifying glass, lemon/calamansi juice, muriatic acid, vinegar, household ammonia, liquid sosa, dropper, and test tube. The links to the video for observation of digestion and osmoregulation of Paramecium : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ymaSzcsdY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxbwiACd0Tw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP0WfdwtxEw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB-BgBpx6cc
the organisms’ responses were assimilated through the use of magnifying glass and any device that could record their reaction. As for the response to contact, upon the addition of cotton thread to the culture on the slide, the behavior of the paramecium was observed near the water edges and near the added thread. Afterwards, to gauge whether the organism would exhibit positive or negative response towards pH changes four set-ups consisting of a basic chemical (ammonia and liquid sosa) and acidic chemicals (calamansi extract and muriatic acid) were designed. Cotton threads would be first soaked in the four aforementioned chemicals and would be introduced to the culture on the slide. The observation for geotaxis was done by filling the test tube with water from the mother culture and monitoring the behavior of the organisms. As for the galvanotaxis, insulated wires connected to the 1.5V battery were attached to the culture on the slide. A magnet with two poles was placed under a slide with paramecium culture to observe magnetotaxis. Warm water was added to the sponge placed under the slide containing drops of paramecium culture. The students noted how the organisms reacted upon the increase in temperature. And lastly, to observe the paramecium’s response to light, the vials were exposed to green and red lights while another vial was covered with a dark sheet to obstruct light. Two other bodily regulatory processes were observed in the latter part of the activity. Video links were provided to aid the students in observing these mechanisms. RESULTS/DISCUSSION I. Presentation of Results Paramecium was used as a model organism in this activity. In activity 1.2, they showed taxis movement. Taxis is the movement of an organism in response to external stimulus. It is different to kinesis which is the undirected or random movement. Paramecium is also observed of its consumption of yeast and osmoregulation on activity 1.3 and 1.4. As we conduct the experiment, the responses are recorded and observations are shown on the table below.
II. Tables Response to Stimuli Observation Contact (Thigmotaxis) Paramecium passed through, came in contact, or reversed their motion upon introduction of the thread. Chemicals (Chemotaxis)
SA:
muriatic acid Moved away from the thread and died upon contact. WA: calamansi Avoided the thread, and died upon contact to the thread. SB: liquid sosa Have a sudden reaction upon introduction of the strong base, yet live having intense jerk movements/ reactions. WB: ammonia Showed slowing of movement, and died eventually. Gravity (Geotaxis) Concentrated at the bottom of than at the top. Electrical (Galvanotaxis) Moved towards the location of the insulated wire. Magnetic fields (Magnetotaxis) Moved randomly then others swam to the S pole, while others stayed at the N pole. Temperature (Thermotaxis) Moved away from the warm temperature, then goes back again. Light (Phototaxis) Swam towards the source of light in half normal and half shaded light. Scattered on green and normal light. And moved toward the red light. Table 1: Reaction of Paramecium to Different Stimuli Paramecium showed reaction to different stimuli that we conducted. Without the convenience of a microscope, we observed the reactive movement through magnifying glass. They exhibited taxis movement in regards to the stimuli as innate behavioral response. These are thigmotaxis, chemotaxis, geotaxis, galvanotaxis, magnetotaxis, thermotaxis, and phototaxis.
IV. How/Why It Happen Fig 4. Response to electric stimuli of the Paramecium Fig 3. Response to gravity of the Paramecium Fig 6. Response to temperature of the Paramecium Fig 5. Response to magnetic fields of the Paramecium Fig 6. Response to light of the Paramecium
Response to Stimuli Observation Contact (Thigmotaxis) The disturbance of the thread did not show neither positive nor negative response. There are no substances dropped to the slide causing no motor reaction, so Paramecia tend to move to the other regions of the slide. Chemicals (Chemotaxis)
SA:
muriatic acid According to the law of chemotaxis, the solution becomes more injurious as it becomes stronger. Muriatic acid contains strong acid (HCL) which is probably the reason why Paramecium species died. WA: calamansi They rest under normal conditions, for example in weak acid (due to the CO 2 in water produced by the organism itself). But calamansi has a pH 2.0; according to JOHNSON, W. H. (1929), any H-ion concentration of pH 4.8 or lower proved to be toxic to Paramecium. SB: liquid sosa Liquid sosa contains NaOH, the solution has a strong base that makes the Paramecium injured and repellant to the substance. WB: ammonia Un-ionized ammonia can pass through the cell membrane and is harmful to the cells due to its fat-soluble feature. Because of this, they developed slow movement and eventually died. Gravity (Geotaxis) In an unoriented specimen the upward phase of the swerving is resisted by gravity, making the motion more difficult; the downward phase is assisted, making the motion easier. Electrical (Galvanotaxis) Cilia of different parts of the body under the influence of the current; the reaction to the electric current is the contrasted action of the cilia in the cathode and anode regions of the body. Magnetic fields (Magnetotaxis) The magnetic orientation is due (mostly) to the magnetic torques acting on rigid structures in the cell body and therefore the response is non-biological, rather it is a passive response. Temperature (Thermotaxis) Thermal avoidance happened because it is triggered by the thermotropic phase transitions in the lipids of the excitable membrane of Paramecium. Light (Phototaxis) According to Iwatsuki, K., & Naitoh, Y. (1983), Spectral sensitivity curves for both the photo dispersal and the step‐up photophobic response showed a major peak at 520 nm and a
they maintain the balance of salinity and water between their body and the environment. A Paramecium is a unicellular protozoan that has a slipper to oblong shape. Unlike Amoeba , they move using their cilia which surrounds its whole external structure. Through cilia, foods are swept to the oral groove. Phagocytosis exhibits the manner in which food can be taken in for nutrition in Paramecium. They have these contractile vacuoles which absorb excess water and waste from the cell, they excrete those by contraction. In summary, the species of Paramecium exhibits a positive or negative response when they encounter an obstacle in their way. They showed avoidance, signs of slowing in movement and eventually death when they could not tolerate the obstruction in the environment, such as, the introduction of chemicals where the samples were placed or the sudden change in temperature. Hence, they could show positive responses, such as aligning themselves upon the introduction of magnetic fields or responding actively towards the source of light. Moreover, the process of how Paramecium obtain food, digest, and secrets their wastes to their environment can vividly be observed with the help of their ultrastructure organelles. Thus, they used their contractile vacuole in facilitating the osmotic pressure and to maintain relative concentration of salt and water inside of the cell with respect to their environment. Consequently, all organisms including microscopic organisms, have a specific degree of tolerance for them to thrive, survive and reproduce in favor of their environment. Moreover, all organisms consider the optimum level of pH, temperature, light, acidity, etc., to maintain the balance inside and outside of their body. Hence, a sudden or deliberate applied change would trigger a response, either positive or a negative response. REFERENCES Internet
(2008, February 12). Retrieved from Paramecium eating pigmented yeast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9ymaSzcsdY (2019, October 19). Retrieved from Contractile Vacuole | Working Animation & Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB-BgBpx6cc Caprette, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from Experimental Biosciences: https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/studies/invertebrates/paramecium.html#:~:text =Congo%20red%20dye%20is%20a,during%20digestion%20of%20the%20yeast. Lee, E. (2017, April 26). Retrieved from Paramecia Contractile Vacuoles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxbwiACd0Tw Lund, O. (2016, April 17). Retrieved from Paramecium Contractile Vacuoles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP0WfdwtxEw Marquez, R. (2018, March 7). Physiology of Unicellular Animal. Retrieved from slideshare.net: https://www.slideshare.net/RonieMarquez/physiology-of- unicellular-animal Jennings, H. S. (1899). STUDIES ON REACTIONS TO STIMULI IN UNICELLULAR ORGANISMS. IV.—LAWS OF CHEMOTAXIS IN PARAMECIUM. American Journal of Physiology-Legacy Content, 2(4), 355–379. Jennings, H. S. (1904). The behavior of paramecium. Additional features and general relations. Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology, 14(6), 441–510. Karine Guevorkian (2006) Experimental studies of protozoan response to intense magnetic fields and forces, Sc. M., Brown University, 2002 Sc. M., Tehran University, 1999 B. Sc., Iran University of Science and Technology, 1996 (n.d.). Retrieved October 20, 2020, from https://www.sparknotes.com/biology/animalbehavior/orientationandnavigation/se ction1/
