Fine structure of the thraustochytrid Ulkenia amoeboidea. II. The amoeboid stage and formation of zoospores

Abstract

In the thraustochytrid Ulkenia amoeboidea (Bahnweg & Sparrow) Gaertner the contents of the mature vegetative thallus escape from the cell wall in the form of a limax cell. The limax cell is covered by a layer of scales and possesses a nucleus, a paranuclear body, Golgi bodies, mitochondria, bands of smooth endoplasmic reticulum, vacuoles, multivesicular bodies, and cisternae with filamentous contents. The posterior end is filled with smooth endoplasmic reticulum and fusiform vesicles. The anterior end is organelle free and filled with cytoplasm with free ribosomes. Subspherical dense bodies, bounded by a single membrane, are present. The limax cell rounds up prior to mitosis and the Golgi bodies increase in number. During mitosis, the nuclear membrane breaks down totally. Chromosomes are not well defined. Spindle microtubules arise from the centriole and enter the nucleus. After nuclear division, the nuclear envelope is reformed. Cytokinesis is by cleavage into two cells, accompanied by formation of microtubules along the cleavage furrows. The zoospore possesses a nucleus, a paranuclear body, mitochondria, vesicles with presumptive mastigonemes and kinetosome rootlet microtubules and they are covered by a layer of scales. An electron-dense granule and two peripheral thickenings are present within the lumen of the kinetosome.