Synaptonemal complex formation and meiosis in the resting sporangium ofBlastocladiella emersonii

Summary Blastocladiella emersonii Cantino etHyatt (Phycomycetes, Blastocladiales) has aBrachyallomyces type of life cycle (sensu Emerson 1941) or aBlastocladiella type of life cycle (sensu Karling 1973), with a regular formation of zoosporangia and resting sporangia and no sexual stages.Synaptonemal complex formation (a characteristic stage in meiotic prophase—pachytene) occurs during development of the resting sporangium inB. emersonii.During resting sporangium germination, two meiotic nuclear divisions give rise to nuclei which have approximately one-fourth of the nuclear volume of the diplotene nucleus. The life cycle ofBlastocladiella emersonii resembles that ofCatenaria anguillulae. The time of diploidization (n2 n) has not been determined.