1. THE CELL WALL OF <em>PYROCYSTIS</em> SPP. (DINOCOCCALES).
- Author
-
Swift, Elijah and Remsen, Charles C.
- Subjects
- *
CELLS , *CELLULOSE fibers , *ACIDS , *X-rays , *OPTICAL diffraction , *SPECTRUM analysis , *CELL membranes - Abstract
The cell of Pyrocystis spp. is covered by an outer layer of material resistant to strong acids and bases. Internal to this layer much of the cell wall is composed of cellulose fibrils. The presence of cellulose fibrils was established by staining raw and ultraviolet-peroxide-cleaned cell walls and by combining X-ray diffraction spectroscopy with electron microscope observation. Carbon replicas of freeze-etched preparations and thin sections of P. lunula walls show outer layer, inside them ca. 24 layers of crossed parallel cellulose fibrils (4-5 nm thick, ca. 12 nm wide), then a region of smaller (ca. 6-12 nm diameter) fibrils in a disperse texture, and then the plasma membrane. Cellulose fibrils in the parallel texture are constructed 3-5 elementary fibrils ca. 3 nm in diameter. Walls of P. fusiformis and P. pseudonctiluca also have cellulose fibrils in a crossed parallel texture similar to those of P. lunula. The Gymnodinium-type swarmer from lunate P. lunula appears to have a cell wall ultrastructure typical of other "naked" dinoflagellates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 1970
- Full Text
- View/download PDF