# A Resource Center for Tetrahymena Thermophila

> **NIH NIH P40** · CORNELL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $129,174

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
Ciliates are unicellular yet possess much of the cellular complexity found in multicellular organisms. They have
evolved substantial biological innovations (e.g. nuclear dimorphism, programmed DNA rearrangements), the
studies of which have revealed fundamental insights into living systems. Even so, they remain an understudied
class of microbes. Tetrahymena in particular has had huge impact on biology, including the discovery of
ribozymes and telomerase, and continues to contribute to our understanding of basic mechanisms critical to
human health and disease. The Tetrahymena Stock Center is the primary resource for the maintenance and
distribution of genetically defined strains of Tetrahymena thermophila to researchers in this country and abroad.
This project aims to develop core new technologies to manipulate the genome of Tetrahymena and thereby
enable researchers to more adeptly contribute to the basic understanding of cellular processes. A major goal of
the project is to adapt CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing for use in Tetrahymena, specifically to promote
more efficient modification of the germline genome. Targeting of Cas9 and guide RNAs specifically to the
micronucleus will lead to specific alterations of this silent germline nucleus rather than that of the expressed
somatic nucleus. Specific modification of the silent germline will allow Tetrahymena researchers to create and
subsequently study deleterious mutations when they are brought into the expressed nucleus in the next
generation. A major goal for this applied research is to lower barriers that impede the use of Tetrahymena to
study fundamental biology and model human disease. Tetrahymena also offers many advantages as a protein
expression system. To improve the stability of high level expression from ribosomal DNA-based expression
vectors, the project aims create cell lines deleted for the single-copy rRNA gene in the germline and thereby
eliminate competition between the endogenous rDNA and introduced expression vectors, which will provide for
more reliable protein production. Development of these approaches will enable mutagenesis and vector-based
transformation without the need for drug selection. Successful attainment of these goals will assist numerous
scientist is their investigations. These methodologies and associated resources will be distributed through the
Stock Center and will be used to expand the services offered by the Center to the research community with an
additional goal of increasing the Center’s sustainability.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9931322
- **Project number:** 5P40OD010964-16
- **Recipient organization:** CORNELL UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** THEODORE G CLARK
- **Activity code:** P40 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $129,174
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → —

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9931322

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9931322, A Resource Center for Tetrahymena Thermophila (5P40OD010964-16). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9931322. Licensed CC0.

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