Home / Chlorophyceae / Unicells / Flagellated / Nephroselmis / Images

Nephroselmis (Chlorophyceae)

Nephroselmis olivacea
Photograph by William Bourland posted online

Nephroselmis olivacea
Photograph by William Bourland posted online

Nephroselmis as a symbiont within Hatena. (A). Ventral view). All green, symbiont-possessing cells have an eyespot at the cell apex (arrowhead). Scale bar, 10 μm. (B) Hatena dividing (ventral view). The symbiont is always inherited by only one of the daughter cells. Scale bar, 10 μm (Okamoto and Inouye 2005).

The life cycle of Hatena, based on observations of natural populations. Hatena alternates between a host phase that harbors a green endosymbiont and a predator phase that acquires the endosymbiont after division. Solid line, observed steps in the process; broken line, hypothetical steps (Okamoto and Inouye 2005).

Okamoto, N., and I. Inouye 2005. A secondary symbiosis in progress? Science 310(5746):287.

Home / Chlorophyceae / Unicells / Flagellated / Nephroselmis / Images