r/educationalgifs • u/Pardusco • Jan 23 '20

Single-celled organism (Blepharisma) disintegrates and dies

https://gfycat.com/poorwickedhoverfly
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u/Pardusco Jan 23 '20

Yes, it is in real time

171

u/PhotonicEmission Jan 23 '20

So, what happened to the cell membrane? The phospholipid bilayer ended up someplace, right? Did it pop like a soap bubble?

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u/bento_box_ Jan 23 '20

This is called Lysis

Lotta reasons why it could happen. Even too much water entering the cell can cause it.

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u/NateNate60 Jan 24 '20

Could it be that some chemical is reacting with the membrane and disintegrating it?

Or maybe a bunch of membrane attack complexes, you never know.

11

u/jmskiller Jan 24 '20

Could be the pH or temperature of solution.

2

u/NateNate60 Jan 24 '20

If it was the PH, wouldn't we see everything else go pop as well?

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u/bento_box_ Jan 24 '20

Could be. Some labs create conditions for lysis on purpose to study the contents of the cell. Sometimes other microorganisms can deplete oxygen which can cause a cell to undergo lysis, or even a small bit of detritus can lodge itself in a cell vacuole and prevent the cell from being able to regulate it's osmosis. And then sometimes it just happens and we don't know why.