Reproduction and life history of the green alga Prasiola linearis Jao (Trebouxiophyceae, Chlorophyta)

• Published in: botm
• Main Author: Rindi, Fabio
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Walter de Gruyter GmbH 2009
• Subjects: Plant Science; Aquatic Science; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/bot.2010.002; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/BOT.2010.002/xml; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/BOT.2010.002/pdf

Abstract Marine species of Prasiola are most common on rocky shores of the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans. Prasiola linearis is a little-known member of this group, whose known distribution is restricted to coastal marshes of Pacific North America. The little information available on this species is mostly based on the original description; its life history has not been previously reported. Reproduction and life history were investigated in a series of experiments conducted in different combinations of culture medium, temperature, daylength and photon irradiance. The alga reproduced by aplanospores that were produced in the apical part of the blade. Upon release, each aplanospore reproduced a new thallus; sexual reproduction, which occurs in other marine species of Prasiola ( P. stipitata and P. meridionalis ) was not observed in P. linearis . No variation in reproductive patterns was observed between different combinations of factors tested; however, the alga showed very weak growth at 20°C. The life history of Prasiola linearis consists of a repetition of the same morphological phase reproducing by aplanospores. The diversity of life histories observed in marine species of Prasiola is illustrated and discussed.