-
-
|
- Hydrodictyon,
known as the "water net", has large colonies composed
of elongate cells linked in a reticulated, net-like pattern.
Each cell is connected at its end walls to two other cells, forming
meshes of five or six cells. The colonies can be as large 4-6
cm wide and 1 m long. The cells are coenocytic and multinucleate.
Young cells have a single parietal chloroplast with one pyrenoid,
while in older cells the chloroplasts become net-like with multiple
pyrenoids. Large vacuoles take up most of the cellular space
and push the cytoplasm around the periphery of the cell.
-
- Research has shown that resistant algaenans
do not build up in the cell walls of Hydrodictyon as they
do in Scenedesmus and Pediastrum, despite molecular
sequence data indicating that the three taxa are closely related.
Instead of forming protective compounds that would allow them
to survive unfavorable conditions, Hydrodictyon cells
have instead evolved the ability to reproduce rapidly.
-
-
- Each Hydrodictyon cell
is joined to two others to form
- the net-like colonies.
|
