SEXUAL REPRODUCTION, MATING SYSTEM, AND PROTOPLAST DYNAMICS OF SEMINAVIS (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE)1

Cell division, the mating system, and auxosporulation were studied in the marine epipelic diatom Seminavis cf. robusta Danielidis & D. G. Mann. The interphase protoplast contains two girdle-appressed chloroplasts, each with an elongate bar-like pyrenoid, and also a central nucleus, located in a bridge between two vacuoles. Before cell division, the chloroplasts divide transversely and translocate onto the valves. The nucleus relocates to the ventral side for mitosis. After cytokinesis and valve formation, the chloroplasts move back to the girdle, showing a constant clockwise movement relative to the epitheca of the daughter cell. Seminavis cf. robusta is dioecious, and sexual reproduction is possible once cells are less than 50 μm. In crosses of compatible clones, gametangia pair laterally, without the formation of a copulation envelope, and produce two gametes apiece. The intensity of sexualization increases as cells reduce further in size below the 50-μm threshold. At plasmogamy, the gametangia dehisce fully and the gametes, which were morphologically and behaviorally isogamous, fuse in the space between the gametangial thecae. The auxospore forms a transverse and longitudinal perizonium. After expansion is complete, there is an unequal contraction of the protoplast within the perizonium, creating the asymmetrical shape of the vegetative cell. Apart from this last feature, almost all characteristics exhibited by the live cell and auxospores of Seminavis agree with what is found in Navicula sensu stricto, supporting the classification of both in the Naviculaceae. Haploid parthenogenesis and polyploid auxospores were found, lending support to the view that change in ploidy may be a significant mechanism in diatom evolution.