A rotocompressor was used to enucleate the flagellate protozoon Peranema trichophorum at known stages in the mitotic cycle. This new enucleation technique, combined with recently devised methods for amputating the flagellum and recording its regeneration in single living cells, permitted the investigation of the role of the nucleus in flagellar regeneration at different cell ages.
The flagellar regeneration capacity of an enucleate Peranema depended on the stage in the cell cycle when the nucleus was removed. Post-division enucleate cells regenerated about half the length reached by sham-operated controls, and at slower rates, while predivision enucleate cells regenerated flagella equally as well as the controls.
Therefore, the nucleus is making an immediate contribution to flagellar regeneration early in the cell cycle, but not late in the cell cycle.