Fig. 2

Mitosomes divide during mitosis. a A G. intestinalis culture was enriched for mitotic trophozoites by albendazole treatment (100 ng/ml) for 6 h at 37 °C. The cells were washed twice in warm medium and fixed, and the mitosomes were immunolabeled with an anti-GL50803_9296 antibody (red) and stained for nuclei with DAPI (blue). The image represents a deconvolved maximal projection of the Z-stack. Corresponding differential interference contrast (DIC) images are shown. Scale bar, 2 μm. An inset of the dividing organelle is shown on the right. Arrowheads indicate dumbbell-shaped dividing mitosomes. Scale bar, 0.5 μm. G. intestinalis cells were induced to encyst in vitro and the mitosomes were immunolabeled. b Encysting cell. c Completed cyst stage. d The mitosome numbers in Girdia cells in different cell/life stages, grown under metabolic stress (metronidazole/iron chelator). tropho trophozoite, mitotic mitotic cell, cyst cyst stage of G. intestinalis, metro G. intestinalis cells treated with 5 μM metronidazole, Fe G. intestinalis cells treated with 300 μM 2,2′-Bipyridyl (DIP). Statistical calculations were carried out using 30–50 cells in SigmaPlot. The vertical lines represent the mean values, the gray boxes depict the range in which 90% of the values fall, and the error bars depict the standard deviations. Black dots represent values outside the standard deviation range