Summary
Clusters of small, pyriform “gland” or “vesiculate” cells protrude from the inner cortex into the inflated bladders ofBotryocladia pseudodichotoma. These multinucleate cells contains a large, central vacuole surrounded by dense cytoplasm. The lobed chloroplasts lack phycobilisomes and contain concentric rather than parallel thylakoids. Irregularly shaped, osmiophilic bodies of undetermined composition are abundant in the cytoplasm and are also released into the vacuole. The cell is characterized by abundant Golgi apparatus. The Golgi bodies appear to form by coalescence of endoplasmic reticulum derived vesicles and tubules. The Golgi apparatus produces large, electron transparent vesicles that contain an osmiophilic, fibrous material. This material is secreted into a diffuse wall layer which appears to be continually sloughed. Thus, the vesiculate cells ofBotryocladia possess an ultrastructure characteristic of granulocrine secretory cells, and it is suggested that they produce the slime contained within the bladders of this genus.
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Young, D.N. Ultrastructural evidence for a secretory function in the “gland cells” of the marine red algaBotryocladia pseudodichotoma (Rhodymeniaceae) . Protoplasma 94, 109–126 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275537
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275537