Journal of Environmental Biology

Interactions between marine facultative epiphyte Chlamydomonas sp. (Chlamydomonadales, Chlorophyta) and ceramiaceaen algae (Rhodophyta)

Tatyana A. Klochkova¹, Ga Youn Cho², Sung Min Boo², Ki Wha Chung¹, Song Ja Kim¹ and Gwang Hoon Kim^*1

¹Department of Biology, Kongju National University, Kongju, Chungnam 314-701, Korea
²Department of Biology, Chungnam National University, Daejon 305-764, Korea

(Received: February 14, 2007; Revised received: October 26, 2007; Accepted: November 27, 2007)

Abstract: Previously unrecorded marine Chlamydomonas that grew epiphytic on ceramiaceaen algae was collected from the western coast of Korea and isolated into a unialgal culture. The isolate was subjected to 18S rDNA phylogenetic analysis as well as ultrastructure and life cycle studies. It had an affinity with the marine Chlamydomonas species and was less related to freshwater/ terrestrial representatives of this genus. It had flagella shorter than the cell body, two-layered cell wall with striated outer surface and abundant mucilaginous material beneath the innermost layer, and no contractile vacuoles. This alga grew faster in mixed cultures with ceramiaceaen algae rather than in any tested unialgal culture condition; the cells looked healthier and zoosporangia and motile flagellated vegetative cells appeared more often. These results suggested that this Chlamydomonas might be a facultative epiphyte benefiting from its hosts. Several ceramiaceaen algae were tested as host plants. Meanwhile, cell deformation or collapse of the whole thallus was caused to Aglaothamnion byssoides, and preliminary study suggested that a substance released from Chlamydomonas caused the response. This is first report on harmful epiphytic interactions between Chlamydomonas species and red ceramiaceaen algae.

Key words: Aglaothamnion, Ceramiaceaen algae, Chlamydomonas, Host-epiphyte interaction, Ultrastructure

PDF of full length paper is available with author (ghkim@kongju.ac.kr)

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