Rapid intracellular motility and dynamic membrane events in an Antarctic foraminifer.

Some properties of cytoplasmic transport in a cold-adapted (Antarctic) organism are reported for the first time. Phase-contrast light microscopy of Astrammina rara, an arenaceous foraminiferan protozoan, reveals that the saltatory transport of cytoplasmic granules in reticulopods occurs bidirectionally and at rates up to 7.5-micron/s. Extracellularly attached latex microspheres are rapidly translocated on the reticulopodial surface, thus demonstrating membrane fluidity at low (-1.8 degrees C) ambient temperatures. Rapid extension/withdrawal and branching/fusing of pseudopodia further illustrate dynamic plasma membrane activity at subzero temperatures. Immunofluorescence microscopy with an antibody monospecific for tubulin shows that these pseudopods contain microtubules. The motility of this cold-adapted foraminifer therefore appears fully comparable to the motility of allogromiid foraminifers from temperate waters.