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CELL-SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS OF ZOOXANTHELLAE IN CULTURE AND SYMBIOSIS

1986; Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL); Volume: 170; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/1541859

1939-8697

S. Domotor, Christopher F. D’Elia,

Seaweed-derived Bioactive Compounds

Zooxanthellae maintained in batch culture at 27°C with a 12 h:l2 h light/dark cycle exhibited different cell-size distributions and morphology with growth phase. Mean cell diameter of cultured zooxanthellae isolated from Zoanthus sociatus increased with time of culture and growth phase from 6 µm(day 3) to 12.5 µm (day 11, late log-phase growth). Maximum specific growth rates (µmax units) ranged from 0.3 to 0.4 day-1. Within three hours after the onset of the light period on the third day of culture (early log-phase growth), large numbers of motile cells appeared. Subsequently, the dominant cell type was non-motile, vegetative, and possessed an accumulation body which increased in size with culture time. Zooxanthellae freshly isolated from a variety of hosts in their natural environment exhibited different cell-size distributions on an inter- and intra-host basis. Based on the laboratory results with cultured zooxanthellae, varying size distributions in fresh isolates of zooxanthellae from natural hosts may be explained by growth-related factors.