| Abstract: | Mitosis and cytokinesis in vegetative cells of the sarcinoid green alga Chlorokybus atmophyticus Geitler were examined with rapid freeze fixation, freeze substitution, and transmission electron microscopy. The taxonomic placement of C. atmophyticus in the class Charophyceae sensu Stewart and Mattox is corroborated by some mitotic and cytokinetic features including development of a microtubular sheath around the prophase nucleus, the almost constant chromosome to pole distance during anaphase, telophase nuclei widely separated by a persistent interzonal spindle, and centripetal plasma membrane invagination. Features, previously unknown in the Charophyceae, include the specific position of the peroxisome lying between the nucleus and adjacent cell wall during interphase and mitosis, the extensive array of microtubules radiating from the centrioles located at the presumptive poles at prophase, involvement of coated vesicles in the furrowing process, and occurrence of transversely aligned cleavage microtubules. Placement of Chlorokybus in the order Klebsormidiales is proposed. |
