Trichosphaerium marine amoeba are a unique case when attempting to observe the processes that occur during its life cycle. Trichosphaerium has two forms: asexual (schizont) and sexual (gamont), but there is limited literature on the phenomenons that occur during its life cycle. The stages and mechanisms of gamont forms were portrayed through detecting changes in morphology and gene expression analysis. We observed the changes in Trichosphaerium behavior throughout three organismal stages that related to amoeba size: small, medium, and large. Physical measurements of amoeba dimensions were taken as an indication of the difference in morphology of each of these groups and stages. Immunohistochemistry was performed to track the progression of development leading to plasmogamy and karyogamy within each growing amoeba to confirm the occurrence of nuclear fusion. The transcriptome of each group of amoebas within a set life cycle stage were then sequenced to perform differential expression analysis in order to quantify the changes in gene expression among these stages. This can give insight into the mechanisms that are occurring within each stage as a result of a certain level of expression, giving a better understanding of the development and reproduction of this organism.
