Observations on the mitosis and on the chromosome evolution during the lifecycle of Oodinium, a parasitic dinoflagellate

Abstract

The life cycle of the dinoflagellate Oodinium alternates between an ectoparasitic trophic phase and a phase of multiplication as free-living flagellates. The nucleus of the young ectoparasite has rod-like chromosomes similar to those of free-living dinoflagellates. As growth of the trophont proceeds the nucleus becomes increasingly homogeneous. When Oodinium leaves its host, nuclear reorganization processes occur rapidly; they correspond to a peculiar prophase of the first sporogenetic division. The following division stages are similar. A conspicuous fusorial system appears between two archoplasmic areas which are responsible for daughter-chromosome segregation. The nuclear envelope remains intact while the fusorial microtubules are attached at distinct, kinetochore-like structures onto the nucleus. As the chromosomes become more condensed the kinetochore-like formations disappear.