Structural analysis of basal bodies of the isolated oral apparatus of Tetrahymena Pyriformis

The oral apparatus of Tetraliymena pyriformis was isolated using a non-ionic detergent to disrupt the cell membrane. The mouth consists largely of basal bodies and microfilaments. Each basal body is attached to the mouth by a basal plate which is integrated into the mesh work of microfilaments that confers upon the oral apparatus its structural integrity. Each basal body is composed of 9 triplet microtubules. Two of the 3 tubules, subfibres ‘A’ and ‘B’ are composed of filamentous rows of globules with a spacing of 4·5 nm. The third tubule, subfibre ‘C’, is only one-third the length of the basal body.