Ciliate dying

Video shows a ciliate (Nassula sp.) dying. If local conditions become unfavorable (e.g., too dry, high osmotic pressure, bad chemicals in water), the single-cell ciliate stops moving around and the cell eventually bursts and expels everything it has eaten as well as its own organelles. Bright-field light microscopy.
September 14, 2023

Submitted by: Julia Van Etten, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ