Uniparental cytogamy: a novel method for bringing micronuclear mutations of Tetrahymena into homozygous macronuclear expression with precocious sexual maturity.

Abstract

Abstract A new method of inducing self-fertilization, uniparental cytogamy, yields homozygous germinal and somatic genotypes in the ciliate Tetrahymena thermophila. Progeny are highly fertile and show a marked tendency for precocious sexual maturity. This method is highly effective in protocols designed to generate and express nonlethal dominant or recessive mutations.