DIGESTION OF FAT IN THE RHIZOPOD, PELOMYXA CAROLINENSIS

¹ The Zoological Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore

1. If Pelomyxa carolinensis, which contains no fat ingests Colpidium striatum, containing fatty acid, the fatty acid in the food vacuoles disappears and simultaneously globules of a mixture of neutral fat and fatty acid appear in the cytoplasm of Pelomyxa. This indicates that fatty acid passes out of the food vacuoles into the cytoplasm and that some of it there combines with glycerine to form neutral fat.

2. If droplets of olive oil (neutral fat) are injected into the cytoplasm of pelomyxae, which contain no fat, the injected droplets gradually decrease in volume and finally disappear and numerous globules of a mixture of neutral fat and fatty acid appear in the cytoplasm. This indicates that the neutral fat in the injected droplets hydrolyzes and passes out into the cytoplasm.