CYTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF ACID PHOSPHATASES IN EUGLENA GRACILIS

The localization of induced and constitutive acid phosphatase activity in Euglena was studied by light and electron microscopy, using two different cytochemical methods. Cells grown in high phosphate medium have constitutive acid phosphatase activity in three regions: in the Golgi complex, around the paramylum bodies, and in the peri-reservoir vesicles. Cells that have formed an induced acid phosphatase by exposure to a phosphate-deficient medium have, in addition to the constitutive activity localized exactly as in the uninduced cell, a strong activity in the pellicle. The induced activity is not uniformly distributed over the pellicle, but is localized at the notch of each pellicle complex, near a group of about four fibrils and near a characteristic vesicle of the endoplasmic reticulum. In the cytostome, where fission begins during division, there is an alternation of large and small pellicle complexes, both of which have induced phosphatase activity. A similar alternation is seen over the entire pellicle of dividing cells.