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A light and electron microscopical study of the green flagellateSpermatozopsis similis spec. nova

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Abstract

The green flagellateSpermatozopsis similis spec. nova has been studied in culture by light and electron microscopy. The flagellate bears two flagella, is naked and has a characteristic crescent and spirally twisted cell shape. The two flagella are of subequal length, each with a prominent hair-point. Each cell contains two contractile vacuoles, a single chloroplast with an anterior eyespot but lacking a pyrenoid, an anteriorly located nucleus, a single dictyosome associated with the posterior end of the nucleus, a single mitochondrion posterior to the nucleus and associated with a small microbody, some conspicuous vacuoles, and a greater number of secondary cytoskeletal microtubules which probably are responsible for maintaining the peculiar shape of this species. SinceS. similis in culture is only biflagellate, it cannot be accommodated within the quadriflagellate, but otherwise very similar speciesS. exsultans. Spermatozopsis similis is compared with other green flagellates and is shown to share common ultrastructural characters withChlamydomonas-type green algae.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Systematische Botanik, Universität Zürich, Zollikerstraße 107, CH-8008, Zürich, Switzerland

    Hans Rudolf Preisig

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

    Michael Melkonian

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  1. Hans Rudolf Preisig
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  2. Michael Melkonian
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Preisig, H.R., Melkonian, M. A light and electron microscopical study of the green flagellateSpermatozopsis similis spec. nova. Pl Syst Evol 146, 57–74 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984054

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00984054

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