Speed of generally slow cells at 5ppm copper concentration

Value 250 µm/sec Range: ±30 220 - 280 µm/sec
Organism Tetrahymena thermophila
Reference Benjamin Bower, Sarah Fisher, Candy Fu, Colin Todd, Determining the effect of copper sulfate concentration on the swimming speed of Tetrahymena thermophila, The Expedition Home > Vol 2 (2012) > Bower link abstract, p.5 bottom paragraph & p.6 top paragraph
Method "Cell speed was determined by capturing the organism’s movement using a DinoXcope camera, before analyzing the videos with CellTrack and ImageJ software. Copper sulfate concentrations of 1 ppm, 3 ppm, and 5 ppm were used, as well as both medium and distilled water controls."
Comments "Tracking the speed of generally slow-moving cells showed a trend of Tetrahymena thermophila having the lowest speed (0.25 +/- 0.03 mm/sec) at the highest copper concentration (5 ppm)." "Another significant difference was found between the 1 ppm CuSO4 and 5 ppm CuSO4 treatments, their speeds being 0.34 mm/sec (95% CI: 0.30-0.39 mm/sec) and 0.25 mm/sec (95% CI: 0.22-0.28 mm/sec) respectively. While there were otherwise no statistically significant results, a trend was observed within the CuSO4 containing groups: as the concentration of CuSO4 in the solution increased, the tracked Tetrahymena swam slower, from 0.34 mm/sec, to 0.32 mm/sec, to 0.25 mm/sec at 1 ppm, 3 ppm, and 5 ppm respectively."
Entered by Uri M
ID 111434