Figure 1

Cilia defects caused by the depletion of IFT46 and IFT80 in Paramecium. Immunostaining of cells with anti-tubulin showed ciliary structures when wild-type Paramecium cells were treated with ND7 RNAi (control), IFT46 RNAi or IFT80 RNAi. (A1–A3) Control ND7 RNAi cells displayed a normal (wild-type) number and length of cilia after 16, 24, or 48 h of feeding. (B1–B3) Cells that were depleted of IFT46 showed a dramatic decrease in cilia division number after 16 or 24 h of feeding, whereas various lengths of cilia emerged on the cells treated with RNAi for 16 or 24 h, and no clones survived after 48 h of feeding, as shown in (B3). (C1–C3) Paramecium cells treated with IFT80 RNAi showed cilia loss after 16, 24, or 48 h of RNAi; however, cells with IFT80 knockdown showed mostly normal-length and some extremely short cilia after 16 or 24 h of feeding. Cells that were fed after 48 h lost almost all cilia, as shown in (C3). Bar: 10 µm.