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An ultrastructural comparison betweenSpermatozopsis andDunaliella (Chlorophyceae)

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Abstract

The ultrastructure of the type species of the genusDunaliella, D. salina, has been reinvestigated in an attempt to clarify the relationships betweenDunaliella andSpermatozopsis. Dunaliella salina differs in the following ultrastructural characters fromSpermatozopsis (as exemplified byS. similis Preisig etMelkonian): presence of a distinctive surface coat covering the plasmalemma; presence of a prominent pyrenoid (with pairs of thylakoids partially entering the pyrenoid matrix); dictyosomes parabasal; endoplasmic reticulum closely underlying the plasmalemma around most of the cell; contractile vacuoles absent; cell form ovoid to elongated and not spirally twisted; mitochondrial profiles near the flagellar apparatus. Differences in the ultrastructure of the flagellar apparatus: basal body angle more or less fixed; distal connecting fibre cross-striated; system II fibre (rhizoplast) present, associated with mitochondrial profile; system I fibre underlying two-stranded microtubular root; mating structure present. These ultrastructural differences justify distinction between the two taxa at generic level. The problematical status of “freshwater” species ofDunaliella is briefly discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Botanisches Institut, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Schlossgarten 3, D-4400, Münster, Federal Republic of Germany

    Michael Melkonian

  2. Institut für Systematische Botanik, Universität Zürich, Zollikerstrasse 107, CH-8008, Zürich, Switzerland

    Hans Rudolf Preisig

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  1. Michael Melkonian
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  2. Hans Rudolf Preisig
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Melkonian, M., Preisig, H.R. An ultrastructural comparison betweenSpermatozopsis andDunaliella (Chlorophyceae). Pl Syst Evol 146, 31–46 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984052

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984052

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