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Chloroplast rotation and morphological plasticity of the unicellular alga Rhodosorus (Rhodophyta, Stylonematales)
Author(s) -
Wilson Sarah,
West John,
PickettHeaps Jeremy,
Yokoyama Akiko,
Hara Yoshiaki
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
phycological research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.438
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1440-1835
pISSN - 1322-0829
DOI - 10.1046/j.1440-1835.2002.00272.x
Subject(s) - chloroplast , biology , botany , rotation (mathematics) , chloroplast membrane , thylakoid , geometry , genetics , mathematics , gene
SUMMARY Time‐lapse videomicroscopy was used to film chloroplast rotation in the 13 isolates of Rhodosorus marinus Geitler and one isolate of Rhodosorus magnei Fresnel & Billard maintained in culture. Cell diameter, rates of chloroplast rotation and the number of chloroplast lobes were measured in all isolates. Chloroplast rotation is a definitive characteristic of the genus Rhodosorus and should be included in its taxonomic description. Isolates of the type species, R. marinus , measure 4–7 μm in diameter in low light (2–4 μmol photons m −2 s −1 ) and 4.5–11.5 μm in diameter in bright light (15–20 μmol photons m −2 s −1 ), and have two to seven chloroplast lobes. Rhodosorus magnei is 9 μm in diameter and has seven to nine chloroplast lobes in bright light. However, these cells are much smaller (approx. 4 μm diam.) and have only two to three chloroplast lobes when maintained in low light. The species R. magnei was created based on its larger cell size and numerous chloroplast lobes compared with R. marinus , but since these characteristics were found to be quite variable and dependant on culture conditions, they cannot be used to differentiate these two species.