Frontonia - Its Life and Death

Cell death due to the evaporation of the water on a microscope slide is a phenomenon seen by just about everyone who has spent serious time observing the creatures in a drop of pond water. One function of the cell that can continue to the very end is the contraction of the contractile vacuole. This video shows a vacuole contracting after the cell has completely ruptured. The organism is a Frontonia, a large ciliate found in my local pond. Brightfield, darkfield, and phase contrast illumination are used.