Summary
The gametes ofChlamydomonas reinhardii ready for copulation have essentially one highly branched mitochondrion. Yet in zygotes 15 minutes old, such mitochondrial networks may no longer be observed. Long, stretched and partially branched mitochondria may still be found in young zygotes, but they disintegrate with increasing age of the zygote into many, small, unbranched mitochondrial fragments.
Indications of mitochondrial fusions could not be found. It cannot be excluded, however, that fusions occur within the first 10 minutes after gamete fusion or in zygotes older than 7 hours. The fusion of chloroplasts was again confirmed.
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Grobe, B., Arnold, C.G. The behaviour of mitochondria in the zygote ofChlamydomonas reinhardii . Protoplasma 93, 357–361 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275665
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01275665