Ultrastructure and Phylogeny of Kirithra asteri gen. et sp. nov. (Ceratoperidiniaceae, Dinophyceae) − a Free-Living, Thin-Walled Marine Photosynthetic Dinoflagellate from Argentina

Publication date: Available online 9 September 2017 Source:Protist Author(s): Pernille Vængebjerg Boutrup, Øjvind Moestrup, Urban Tillmann, Niels Daugbjerg A gymnodinioid photosynthetic dinoflagellate was isolated from Argentina and examined by light and electron microscopy and analysis of nuclear-encoded LSU rDNA. Kirithra asteri gen. et sp. nov. was proposed as morphology and molecular phylogeny separated this dinoflagellate from others within the family Ceratoperidiniaceae. Cells were surrounded by a hyaline amphiesma comprising polygonal vesicles. Each vesicle contained a honeycomb and a trilaminar structure. An anterior sulcal extension ending in a complete circle formed the apical structure complex (ASC), which characterizes Ceratoperidiniaceae. The ASC comprised three rows of vesicles. The nucleus was located in the hypocone, and several large, irregularly shaped vesicles were present in the epi- and hypocone. Chloroplasts were surrounded by three membranes, and grana-like arrangements of thylakoids were observed in one strain used for ultrastructural study. The cell centre contained 1-3 multiple-stalked pyrenoids and membrane-bound vesicles containing tile-like structures surrounded each pyrenoid. Two pusules with collecting chambers and associated vesicles branched off each of the flagellar canals. The flagellar apparatus featured a ventral connective between the amphiesma and the R1 root, and almost opposite basal bodies, rarely seen in dinoflagellates. This...
Source: Protist - Category: Molecular Biology Source Type: research