Ciliates are a group of protozoans with hair-like organelles (cilia), which are identical in structure to the flagella of eucaryotes, but typically shorter and present in much larger numbers with a different undulating pattern than flagella.

This book presents a contemporary and imaginative synopsis of diverse biological aspects of cilia/flagella and ciliates/flagellates. It comprises contributions by a dozen of renowned experts from all over the world, which summarize our current understanding, essentially the results obtained and progress made during the last five decades of research of cilia/flagella and the ultrastructure, cell biology, organellar function, motility, taxonomy/systematics, symbiosis, and biodiversity of ciliates and flagellates.

The book provides various suggestions for future research. It is lavishly illustrated by numerous line drawings and light- and electron-microscopic images.

This publication addresses advanced students of biology and zoology, and all scientists teaching and working in cell biology and protistology.

This is a wonderfully eclectic volume that arose out of a meeting that gathered many of those who managed for a time to place protists at the very center of cell biology. An unofficial subtitle could be ‚Five decades of basic research’ with an accent on cell ultrastructure- 50 years of linking form and function. Most of the chapters are a mixture of review and personal notes from the perspective of an expert with several decades of experience.

The book is introduced by a chapter, authored by the editors, setting out the basic characteristics of flagella and flagellates, and cilia and ciliates. Subsequent chapters are grouped thematically: Ultrastructure, Cell Biology, Motility, Taxonomy and Systematics, Symbiosis, biodiversity and finally- Retro and Prospective.

Under Ultrastructure are two chapters. By Gregory Antipa, the chapter ‚Cellular architecture, growth, morphogenesis, chemoattractants, and loose ends’ re-caps his work with Dindinium prey capture and ingestion, ciliate cortex ultrastructure and linking ontogeny with phylogeny in ciliates. The other is „Ejection, ingestion, digestion and expulsion in ciliates by Klaus Hausmann summarizing his work on extrusosomes, the ultrastructures of feeding and contractile vacuole apparati in ciliates.

The section Cell Biology contains a chapter by Helmut Plattner aptly titled „A song of praise for Paramecium as a model in vesicle trafficking, A soto voce praise in retrospect with certain reservation”. The other is „Ciliate mating types and pheromones”, focusing on the story of Euplotes, authored by Pierangelo Luporini, Claudio Alimenti, and Adriana Vallesi.

3 chapters are under the heading Motility. „Encounters with cilia” on the mechanics of ciliary motion is recounted by Michael Sleigh. Mechano and gravity sensitivity are the topics of Hans Machemer’s chapter „How do protists keep up?”. Continuing with the mechanics of ciliary and flagellar motion is a chapter by Sidney Tamm, „Ctenophores and termites - systems for motility„.

Both ciliates and flagellates are treated in the section Taxonomy and Systematics. In „Kinetids, concepts, and coincidences” Denis Lynn tells the story of contemporary ciliate systematics. Øjvind Moestrup’s chapter „On algal and other protist flagella and cilia” reviews the history of our understanding of flagella and relationships to cilia.

The Symbiosis section consists of three chapters. Paramecium gets special attention in the chapter by Masahiro Fujishima and Yuuki Kodama „New insights into the Paramecium-Holospora and Paramecium-Chlorella Symbioses” and the chapter by Hans-Dieter Görtz „Prokaryotic endosymbionts in ciliates”. Flagellates are the focus of the third chapter by Renate Radek and Jürgen F. H. Strassert „Symbionts of Symbionts termite flagellates and the bacterial associations”.

The section Biodiversity is Klaus Hausmann’s chapter „Smallest protists in the deepest depth- flagellates from the abyssal sea floors”. The final section Retro and Prospective consists of Jens Boenigk’s chapter „Five decades of research in protistology - what have we learned.

Knowing where we have come from is essential to moving forward and each account tells not only where we came from but how we have gotten to where we are now. Each of the chapters are well and attractively illustrated. Overall, the book is very nicely produced and is simply a pleasure to read. This surprisingly modestly priced volume deserves a place in your personal library.

John R. Dolan

Acta Protozoologica, Vol. 53, issue 2, page 233

Fast jeder Mikroskopiker erliegt schon bei seiner Erstbegegnung mit eukaryotischen Einzellern deren besonderer Faszination. Immerhin weisen diese bewundernswerten Lebewesen bereits auf dem Organisationsniveau einer einzigen Zelle alle basalen Kriterien eines Lebewesens auf und zeigen überdies eine überraschende typologische Vielfalt, deren genauere Erkundung leicht zu einer lebenslangen Aufgabe ausufern kann. Die nahe der „Basislinie“ bzw. dem „Wurzelhorizont“ der Organismenstammbäume angesiedelten und als solche ausdrücklich als ursprünglich aufgefassten Protisten sind keineswegs primitive, sondern geradezu unglaublich differenzierte und komplexe Lebewesen. Manche von ihnen, darunter beispielsweise die Vertreter mancher Grünalgen i.w.S. wie die Zieralgen (Desmidien/Zygnemophyceae), bestechen durch ihre ansprechende Ästhetik, die bereits Ernst Haeckel (1834 – 1919) zu hinreißenden Darstellungen in seinen berühmten Kunstformen der Natur (1904) veranlasst haben, aber viele, wie etwa Chlamydomonas reinhardtii oder Chlorella vulgaris – Standardobjekt fundamentaler und ergiebiger Forschungsprojekte zu Grundfragen der Zellbiologie – , sind nach morphologischen Kriterien eher eintönig bis langweilig. Gänzlich anders stellen sich dagegen die Ciliaten (Wimpertiere, Ciliophora) oder die heute verschiedenen Verwandtschaftsgruppen zugeordneten Flagellaten (Geißelträger) dar: Sie verfügen im zellulären und subzellulären Bereich – von ihren auffälligen, der Lokomotion dienenden Organellen abgesehen – über zahlreiche und spezifische Sonderbildungen, die zu Recht schon seit geraumer Zeit das Interesse intensiver cytologischer Forschung gefunden haben.

Der hier vorzustellende und jüngst erschienene Band bündelt die anlässlich eines Symposiums vorgetragenen Beiträge von 17 weltweit renommierten und aus mehreren Kontinenten stammenden Autoren, die sich über Jahre und Jahrzehnte eingehend mit besonderen Aspekten der mit Cilien oder Flagellen ausgestatteten Protisten befasst haben. Die Beiträge thematisieren zwar auch neuere und sogar neueste Ergebnisse aus der protistologischen Forschung an Ciliaten und Flagellaten (sowie wenigen anderen Vertretern), doch wählen die hier versammelten Einzeldarstellungen originellerweise einen zusätzlichen und im Unterschied zu sonstigen Tagungsberichten gänzlich anderen Ausgangspunkt: Die zum Symposium und zur Mitarbeit eingeladenen Autoren behandeln in ihren Einzeldarstellungen jeweils die nach ihrer eigenen Wahrnehmung aufregendsten und bedeutendsten Befunde aus ihrer eigenen Forschung, die zumeist mehrere Jahrzehnte währte. Der Themenbogen überspannt somit rund fünf Dekaden protistologischer Detailforschung in höchst unterschiedlichen Bereichen. Die Aufsätze dieses Bandes summieren sich insofern zu einer beeindruckenden Revue aufregender Erkenntnisse. Zwischen den Zeilen scheinen aber auch (wissenschaftshistorisch bemerkenswerte) autobiographische Züge auf, denn Forschungsprojekte und Erkenntnisfortschritte sind durchweg an die involvierten Persönlichkeiten gebunden und nicht selten durch glückliche Konstellationen in ihrem Umfeld geprägt. Die in diesem Band zusammengeführten Beiträge überzeugen in ihrer thematischen Bandbreite mindestens ebenso, wie sie oftmals auch das zähe Bemühen der Forscherpersönlichkeiten spiegeln.

In seiner Einleitung gibt das Herausgeberteam einen konzisen, den state of the art spiegelnden Überblick über die Feinstruktur und wichtige funktionelle Aspekte von Cilien und Flagellen sowie ihrer Träger. Die folgenden 14 Aufsätze thematisieren fallweise jeweils Allgemein- und fast immer Spezialaspekte zur Ultrastruktur, Zellbiologie, Bewegung und Taxonomie bzw. Systematik, ferner zu Protisten-Symbiosen und zur Biodiversität – so die inhaltliche Gliederung dieses Bandes. Ein 15. Aufsatz fasst die wichtigsten Erkenntnisforschritte – sozusagen den Thesaurus gesicherten Wissens – aus fünf Dekaden hochgradig diversifizierter Forschung zusammen. Eine separate und detaillierte Besprechung aller Einzelbeiträge verbietet sich hier allerdings aus mancherlei Gründen. Nur soviel sei generell angemerkt: Sie alle transportieren und dokumentieren interessante und oft bis in die molekulare Dimension verfolgte Einsichten in die Biologie dieser schon allein von ihrer Zellarchitektur her aufregenden Einzeller – von den Signalstoffen zur Zusammenführung kompetenter Konjugationspartner bis hin zu den prokaryotischen Symbionten in den Zellkernen mancher Wimpertiere.

Alle Beiträge in diesem Band sind in englischer Sprache verfasst. Wer über eine gewisse Erfahrung mit englischsprachiger Literatur verfügt, wird die Texte ohne nennenswerte Verständnisblockaden lesen können. Die Einzelbeiträge sind opulent mit wundervollen Bilddokumenten illustriert: Struktur- und Funktionsschemata begleiten lichtmikroskopische Aufnahme, und diese sind häufig auch als Kapitelaufmacher und in Farbe eingestreut. Dokumente aus der Elektronenmikroskopie (SEM und TEM) ergänzen das beeindruckende Bildangebot. Die gebotenen Informationen darf man vorbehaltlos als äußerst gediegen und gehaltvoll bewerten. Auch wenn man die behandelten Objekte aus der eigenen mikroskopischen Beschäftigung kennt oder zu kennen glaubt, ist man doch ständig überrascht zu erfahren, bis zu welcher (Er)Kenntnistiefe die Forschung der letzten Jahrzehnte die Ciliaten und Flagellaten ausgelotet hat.

Die Herausgeber haben mit diesem Band ein überaus respektables Werk vorgelegt, das unbedingt Anerkennung und Dank verdient. Hervorzuheben ist auch, dass der Verlag mit dieser Neuerscheinung ein bemerkenswertes Preis/Leistungsverhältnis umgesetzt hat. Wer sich für Ciliaten und Flagellaten begeistern kann, wird an diesem hervorragenden Band seine reine Freude haben. Schon allein deswegen wird er auch in der Bibliothek des Rezensenten einen besonderen Platz einnehmen.

Dr. Bruno P. Kremer, Köln

Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau 67. Jg. Heft 6, 2014, Seite 318

Unicellular eukaryotes, or the protists, represent a distinct life type organization which is different from the multicellular life. The world of these single-celled organisms is primarily comprised of flagellated and ciliated creatures because most protists possess flagella or cilia at certain stages of their life cycle. In the new book, Klaus Hausmann, Renate Radek and their 15 coauthors summarize numerous aspects of cilia/flagella structural and functional organization and ciliate/flagellate biology. The table of contents of this volume includes a short Preface and an attractive Introduction, 14 most informative chapters organized in 7 sections (Ultrastructure, Cell Biology, Motility, Taxonomy and Systematics, Symbiosis, Biodiversity, Retroand Prospective), Addendum including the curricula vitae of contributors, scientific humor division and acknowledgements, and a useful Index.

The Preface recounts that the book considers “an up-to-date summary describing the state of our understanding of cilia/flagella and ciliates/flagellates … without biochemical and genetic aspects”. Nevertheless, modern molecular and genetic data are used extensively, referred to broadly throughout many chapters, and are skillfully interwoven with the general contents of the book.

In the Introductory chapter “Cilia and Flagella – Ciliates and Flagellates”, K. Hausmann and R. Radek provide a clear and comprehensive interpretation of the universal features of cilia and flagella, their role in cell motility, and general characteristics of ciliated and flagellated protists.

The chapter “Cellular Architecture, Growth, Morphogenesis, Chemoattractants, and Loose Ends” by G.A. Antipa gives the history of research on the fascinating cytoarchitecture and digestion of Didinium. Further, there is an excellent account of the chemoattraction process between Didinium and Paramecium. The chapter also comprises the synthesis of studies on morphogenetic sequences in ciliates, including the description of basal body formation and morphogenesis of the thigmotactic field in Conchophthirus curtus. This section of the book closes with an important statement that we need a better mechanism to merge the ideas from molecular and organismic biology which can cement and explain the evolutionary relationships more carefully.

The chapter “Ejection, Ingestion, Digestion, and Expulsion in Ciliates” by K. Hausmann deals with light and electron microscopical studies of extrusomes, trichocysts and toxicysts, structures which are involved in food uptake and segregation of ingesta, and contractile vacuolar complex in ciliates. All those high-quality structural studies bring us nearer to the understanding of how such important parts of the ciliate cell operate as extrusive organelles or contractile vacuoles. The author concludes the chapter with a profound idea that modern structural studies are still of great necessity for better understanding of behavior, physiology and biochemistry of protists.

The chapter “A Song of Praise for Paramecium as a Model in Vesicle Trafficking – A Sotto Voce Praise in Retrospect with certain Reservation” by H. Plattner summarizes some of the results on vesicle trafficking, docking and membrane fusion, exo-endocytosis and calcium signaling in a Paramecium cell which have opened the door for exploring numerous fundamental issues of general cell and molecular biology. The stunning results obtained with the model Paramecium clearly show that this system still has a future in the forthcoming investigations.

The chapter “Ciliate Mating Types and Pheromones” by P. Luporini, C. Alimenti and A. Vallesi starts with the history of our knowledge of ciliate mating types and ends with a detailed description of various structures, three-dimensional conformations, gene and multiple amino acid sequences of pheromones, which play a key role in communication between individuals of the same species of ciliates during conjugation and autogamy.

In the chapter “Encounters with Cilia”, M.A. Sleigh presents a careful and clearly described treatment of cilia/flagella movement in model protozoan species. This is followed by the assessment of implications of this knowledge for understanding ciliary metachronism and propulsion of water and mucus in several unicellular and multicellular organisms, and finalized by the overview of control of ciliary activity. I have always been wondering how the universality of the 9×2+2 pattern of fibrils in both flagella and cilia can harmonize with their ability to perform quite different modes of dynamics and beat patterns. This chapter gives, at least in part, the answer to this crucial question.

The following chapter “How do Protists keep up?” by H. Machemer is devoted to the indepth analysis of the investigations of ciliates’ mechanosensitivity, motility, gravitaxis and behavior. According to the results obtained, gravikinesis in protists takes an intermediate position between classical kinesis and taxis.

The chapter “Ctenophores and Termites – Systems for Motility” by S.L. Tamm deals with the vast field of studies of structure, development, regeneration, motility, mechanosensitivity, membrane movements, electrical conduction and behavior in model organisms of several so-called simple invertebrates, with special reference to the intriguing mechanisms that coordinate the beating of fields of cilia in ctenophores and flagella in termite flagellates.

D.H. Lynn, the author of the chapter “Kinetids, Concepts, and Coincidence”, clearly shows how the transformative idea on structural conservatism of the kinetid had led to establishing a new macrosystem of ciliates which was later supported, to a certain degree, by studies of molecular phylogenies of these protists. An account of Lynn’s research career is neatly interspersed with instructive stories about profitability of “small” and “big” concepts as well as about benefits and sometimes not easy situations which may arise during the cooperation and/or competition among different scientific groups.

The chapter “On Algal and other Protist Flagella and Cilia” by Ø. Moestrup records an impressive history of flagella and cilia studies from early days of light microscopy to the present days of modern cell biology. The broad-scale comparative research on these elaborate structures of locomotion has led the author to a hypothesis that, in spite of the fact that the first eukaryotic flagellum arose as a single organelle, the biflagellate condition for the ancestral eukaryote was probably the most successful in the evolution. The chapter concludes that, although the flagellum structure and functions have been modified many times in different groups of unicellular organisms, the 9×2+2 axoneme and the 9×3 basal body structures remain strikingly conservative throughout the entire eukaryotic “tree of life”.

Clarifying patterns of endosymbiosis is a pivotal issue in modern cell biology of protists. In the chapter “Insights into the Paramecium-Holospora and Paramecium-Chlorella Symbioses” M. Fujishima and Y. Kodama present a comprehensive synthesis of the recent studies on the re-establishment of this phenomenon between Paramecium caudatum and symbiotic bacteria species Holospora and between P. bursaria and its cytoplasmic endosymbiont, Chlorella variabilis. The allure of this chapter is that it allows understanding of how a symbiont invades the host cell, avoids digestion in the cytoplasm and grows within the host cell, and what molecular mechanisms underlie these processes.

Another important chapter, “Prokaryotic Endosymbionts in Ciliates”, written by H.-D. Görtz also discusses the unique structures, life and infection cycles of intracellular microorganisms in ciliates. Special attention is paid to the Paramecium species infected with Holospora-like symbionts. The author correctly states that in the endosymbiosis studies, ciliates have always been those very organisms providing most important information on the issue during the last 130 years.

The chapter “Symbionts of Symbionts –Termite Flagellates and their Bacterial Associations” by R. Radek and J.F.H. Strassert includes an extensive overview of the symbiosis in protists, with major aspects of the interactions between prokaryotic microbiota and flagellates (parabasalids and oxymonads) in the hindgut of lower termites and wood roach Cryptocercus.

The chapter “Smallest Protists in the Deepest Depths – Flagellates from Abyssal Sea Floors” deals with the deep-sea protists, in particular flagellates which were sampled, successfully cultivated and studied by K. Hausmann and his colleagues. Their findings clearly challenge the earlier conception of low protistan species richness on the abyssal sea floor and substantiate a fruitful perspective of further protistan diversity studies in the deep underwater environments.

Lastly, J. Boenigk in the Chapter “Five Decades of Research in Protistology – What have we learned?” takes the reader through the history of protistological research, in particular during the last 50 years, explaining briefly but clearly the impact of this research on our understanding of the world of flagellates and ciliates. He states that studies of unicellular eukaryotes have been strongly influenced by the historic developments of general biology, other associated disciplines and innovative technologies which undoubtedly should help the budding scientists better predict future discoveries in the remarkable field of Protistology.

Some words should be said on the technical quality of this edition. The book with its hard cover and attractive format is written brightly and is easy to follow. It is well illustrated by 233 figures, including line drawings of consistently high quality, aesthetically beautiful light- and electron microscopic images, illustrating various features of protistan biology. All the chapters draw together the important relevant literature; references are conveniently organized at the end of each chapter. It was a great pleasure for me to read this book, and I congratulate the editors, Klaus Hausmann and Renate Radek, as well as all other 15 contributors for creating an excellent volume on ciliated and flagellated eukaryotic microorganisms.

I recommend this book without hesitation to all advanced students of biology, professional scientists who work with and love protists, and to anyone who wishes to deepen the knowledge and unfold the unique world of these amazingly graceful and environmentally important single-celled organisms.

Sergei O. Skarlato

Protistology 8 (3) 2014, p. 25-127

One more nicely looking and very interesting protistological book saw the light. In fact this book is a collection of materials presented and discussed at the relatively small (13 participants) meeting held under the title “International Wendlandian Symposium: Five Decades of Basic Research on Cilia/Flagella and Ciliates/Flagellates” in fall 2012, Wendland, Germany. In the case of the book there are 17 contributors. The focus of the Symposium at which these presentations were made was to reconsider our understanding cilia/flagella and ciliates/flagellates which developed during the last 50 years. The point is that majority of contributors have been constantly working in protistology for more than 45 years, starting as PhD students to become professors and world-reknown specialists. It means, they actively participated in the field development during this past period and somehow the book could be treated also as a fine collection of the personal stories in science (a history of the modern protistology). The volume does not cover all aspects of the discipline, but focuses on ultrastucture, cell biology, motility, taxonomy and systematics, symbiosis and biodiversity (partly).

In the introduction made by the editors, general characteristics of the subjects (cilia and flagella; ciliates and flagellates) are given. The first chapter is dedicated to ultrastructure and is split into two parts. In the first part, G. Antipa, using Didinium and Conchophthirus as model objects, presents “Cellular architecture, growth, morphogenesis and chemoattractions”. In the second one, K. Hausmann addresses to “Ejection, Ingestion, Digestion, and Expulsion in Ciliates”, focusing on Paramecium, Homalozoon and Pseudomicrothorax.

The next chapter “Cell biology” comprises two articles: “A Song of Praise for Paramecium as a Model in Vesicle Trafficking” (performed by H. Plattner) and “Ciliate Mating types and Pheromones” (presented by P. Luporini, C. Alimenti, and A. Vallesi), mostly dealing with Paramecium, Blepharisma, and Euplotes.

The third chapter “Motility” consists of three articles: “Encounters with Cilia” (written by M. Sleigh) with Stentor and Paramecium and several different flagellates, including Opalina, as model objects; “How do Protists keep up?” contributed by H. Machemer, a case study of Paramecium and Stylonychia; and “Ctenophores and Termites – Systems for Motility” (study by S. Tamm) through the example of several ctenophorans and some flagellates from the termites Cryptotermes and Mastotermes.

The fourth chapter “Taxonomy and Systematics” includes two articles: “Kinetids, Concepts, and Coincidences” presented by D. Lynn and dedicated to ciliate systematics and phylogeny and “On Algal and other Protist Flagella and Cilia” provided by Ø. Moestrup and focused on the exploration of protist flagella.

The “Symbiosis” chapter consists of three articles: “New insights into the Paramecium-Holospora and Paramecium-Chlorella Symbioses” by M. Fujishima and Y. Kodama; “Prokaryotic Endosymbionts in Ciliates” by H.-D. Görtz, mainly covering Paramecium symbionts; and, finally, “Symbionts of Symbionts – Termite Flagellates and their Bacterial Associations” contributed by R. Radek and J. Strassert, and regarding investigation of parabasalids and oxymonads from hindgut of lower termites.

The sixth chapter “Biodiversity” by K. Hausmann concerns “Smallest Protists in the Deepest Depths – Flagellates from Abyssal Sea Floors”.

The general retro- and prospective of the studies, presented by J. Boenigk as a particular final chapter, could emphasize the main aim of this publication: “Five decades of research in Protistology – what have we learned?”

A kind of deviation to ciliates studies is striking: of seven chapters only one is dedicated exclusively to flagellates, but two are entirely connected with ciliates (in the rest four – material on ciliates is dominating), not surprisingly, though, as the major part of contributors are ciliatologists. In some respect the book reminds the volume “Ciliates. Cells as Organisms” published in 1996. Of course, the team of authors is quite different and, again, in the present book each chapter strongly correlates with the author’s sequence of scientific activities and experience. In Addendum readers can also find some information concerning the authors and a dozen of humoristic pictures. Moreover, all chapters usually start with a full page image (micrograph), connected with the chapter content (made by different authors) and are well illustrated by micrographs taken from original articles. All together it makes the text vivid and more attractive for readers.

There are very few technical mistakes and only one, more logical, could be mentioned. In fact, including metazoans (Ctenophora) into protistological book is rather unusual. In any case the title “Ctenophores and Termites – Systems for Motility” (Contents, chapter “Motility”, and the head of the article on p. 147) apparently should be addressed to motility of ctenophorans and protozoans inhabiting termites!

Personally, I do like aphorisms, formulated at the end of D. Lynn article (p.187), which could be directed to budding scientists, at the beginning of their careers: “think big conceptually; think small organismically; think new technologically and think extreme environmentally”.

According to the back page comment, the volume is addressed to advanced students of biology and zoology, and all scientists teaching and working in cell biology and protistology. Taking into consideration the reasonable price, I hope, the book can reach all of its potential readers.

Sergei I. FOKIN

Jpn. J. Protozool. Vol. 47, No. 1, 2. (2014), page 49-50

What a lovely book! Twenty years ago, being a freshman at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, I started my studies in biology, carrying myself to a typical lecture series where all professors introduced themselves. The one lecture that impressed me the most was about cilia and flagella – ciliates and flagellates, presented by a young Professor Klaus Hausmann, coeditor of this book. He showed his teaching film about cell motility (Hausmann & Gradias 1994), which shortly thereafter had its official debut at the IX International Protozoological Congress, Berlin, 1993. Today, 20 years later, I am a bioinformatician working in the field of phylogenetics, but it has been this little movie that defined my early career in protozoology and later phycology. It was this lecture series by Hausmann about ultrastructure and cell biology that made me visit the Congress, where I opened my eyes and ears to see and hear renowned experts from around the world, many of whom are authors of this book.

As it is with Protistology (Hausmann et al. 2003) and other well-known books about protists that have been written or edited by Hausmann and his coworkers, this book is beautiful and lavishly illustrated with numerous line drawings as well as with light- and electron-microscopic images. There are 233 images on 299 pages.

As promoted by Schweizerbart Science Publishers ‘The book [summarizing 50 years of lab research] provides various suggestions for future research in ultrastructure, cell biology, organellar function, motility, taxonomy/systematics, symbiosis, and biodiversity.’ The little things make a big difference, and this book loves the little things. There are chapters – just to name a few of them – about cellular architecture, growth, morphogenesis and chemoattractants, about ejection, ingestion, digestion, and expulsion, about vesicle trafficking, mating types and pheromones and about the smallest protists in the deepest depths. To be more concrete, this book is organised into eight chapters. Chapter 1, the introduction, by K. Hausmann and R. Radek, focuses on universal features of cilia and flagella. The authors discuss the characteristic arrangement of microtubules (the so-called 932þ2 pattern), the axonemal activity, the ciliary beat as well as metachronal waves, the infraciliature and flagellar root structures. Chapter 2, ultrastructure, is subdivided into two articles, one by A. Antipa and one by K. Hausmann. While A. Antipa provides an in-depth discussion on the model organisms Didinium and Paramecium, K. Hausmann reviews his lifelong interest on extrusomes, especially trichocysts. Chapter 3, cell biology, again is subdivided. H. Plattner discusses SNARE proteins and calcium signaling in Paramecium (a model in vesicle trafficking) while P. Luporini, C. Alimenti and A. Vallesi provide insights into ciliate mating types and their relevant signaling molecules, pheromones.

Chapter 4, motility, includes three articles. M.A. Sleigh describes the dynamics of beat patterns and fluid propulsion, H. Machemer mainly discusses gravikinesis, and S.L. Tamm presents investigations on ctenophore and termite protozoan motility. Chapter 5, taxonomy and systematics, includes two articles close to my own expertise. ‘Think big conceptually. Think small organismically. And think new technologically.’ D.H. Lynn quotes his colleague Paul Herbert and discusses Ciliophora phylogenies, genes and genomes, kinetids, concepts and coincidences; whereas, Ø. Moestrup focuses on algal basal bodies.

Chapter 6, symbiosis, with three articles, provides insights into different endosymbioses. M. Fujishima and Y. Kodama describe the Paramecium-Holospora and the Paramecium- Chlorella symbiosis. H.-D. G¨ortz discusses prokaryotic endosymbionts in ciliates, and R. Radek and J.F.H. Strassert deliver a fascinating story about symbionts of symbionts, about termite flagellates and their bacterial associations. Chapter 7, biodiversity, by K. Hausmann, is about deep-sea protozoans summarizing some cruises aboard the German research vessel METEOR, one of which, I have been a part of as a student in the Hausmann lab. Dear Prof. Hausmann, thank you very much! Chapter 8, retro- and prospective, the last chapter by J. Boenigk, summarises five decades of research in protozoology, discussing light and electron microscopy, polymerase chain reactions and high-throughput sequencing, building a bridge between protozoology and phycology.

This book delves into detail like an observer using a microscope, an instrument from Leeuwenhoek’s time that has never lost its relevance; that is, the authors peer deeper and deeper into the topic as one looks at a cell with progressively higher magnification. As indicated on the book cover "This book presents a contemporary and imaginative synopsis of diverse biological aspects of cilia/flagella and ciliates/flagellates. ... This publication addresses advanced students of biology, and all scientists teaching and working in cell biology and protistology."

This book is a great read, and the price is unbeatable. The book is appropriate for a broad readership, and, being a reader, I just want to thank all the authors and the editors. All together, they combine for more than 2000 publications. Cilia and Flagella. Ciliates and Flagellates. What a lovely book!

Matthias Wolf, University of Würzburg

Phycologia 2014, vol. 53 No. 5, Allen Press Publishing Services