A NEW CELL STAGE IN THE HAPLOID-DIPLOID LIFE CYCLE OF THE COLONY-FORMING HAPTOPHYTE PHAEOCYSTIS ANTARCTICA AND ITS ECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS1

Abstract

Few members of the well-studied marine phytoplankton taxa have such a complex and polymorphic life cycle as the genus Phaeocystis. However, despite the ecological and biogeochemical importance of Phaeocystis blooms, the life cycle of the major bloom-forming species of this genus remains illusive and poorly resolved. At least six different life stages and up to 15 different functional components of the life cycle have been proposed. Our culture and field observations indicate that there is a previously unrecognized stage in the life cycle of P. antarctica G. Karst. This stage comprises nonmotile cells that range in size from ∼4.2 to 9.8 μm in diameter and form aggregates in which interstitial spaces between cells are small or absent. The aggregates (hereafter called attached aggregates, AAs) adhere to available surfaces. In field samples, small AAs, surrounded by a colony skin, adopt an epiphytic lifestyle and adhere in most cases to setae or spines of diatoms. These AAs, either directly or via other life stages, produce the colonial life stage. Culture studies indicate that bloom-forming, colonial stages release flagellates (microzoospores) that fuse and form AAs, which can proliferate on the bottom of culture vessels and can eventually reform free-floating colonies. We propose that these AAs are a new stage in the life cycle of P. antarctica, which we believe to be the zygote, thus documenting sexual reproduction in this species for the first time.