Abstract
WE agree with Glooschenko and Curl, in the preceding communication, that species which produce autospores may have a mechanism of cell division different from those species like diatoms and dinoflagellates, which always form two cells. We believe, however, that cell division is always triggered only after growth and maturation of the cells. We chose autotrophic species and cultured them in a simple mineral medium, so that for growth and maturation they needed a light period. Full maturation—replication of DNA—can, as we saw, take place in the dark. After this period of DNA replication the autospores are formed, but they do not grow in the dark. They accumulate and start growing synchronously in the next light period.
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STEENBERGEN, C. Obtaining Synchronous Cultures of Algae. Nature 218, 574 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/218574a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/218574a0
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