RUI: Nuclear Cytology and Centrin in the Red Algae

Drs。威廉与玛丽学院的约瑟夫·斯科特和莎伦·布罗德沃特正在利用扫描和透射电子显微镜研究红藻群（红藻门）细胞分裂的细节。亚细胞结构的数量、种类和方向结合在一起，形成了细胞分裂的模式，这些模式似乎是红藻在序数或亚纲分类水平上的主要类群的特征。目前对珊瑚科和蝙蝠科的细胞分裂模式知之甚少的研究仍在继续。研究人员还在红藻中寻找最近描述的蛋白质中心蛋白，这是一种可收缩的蛋白质，被认为存在于所有真核细胞中，并参与染色体运动。此外，通过电子显微镜、分子和免疫细胞化学方法研究了神秘的单细胞生物液泡青光眼。红水藻是世界上独一无二的藻类，它的一个独特特征是没有鞭毛器官。斯科特和布罗德沃特的初步数据表明，液泡藻具有位于红藻细胞质内的非涌现鞭毛。在合作者的帮助下，正在进行分子和免疫细胞化学试验，以确认中心蛋白和减少的鞭毛的存在。这些结果将为红藻和其他原始生物群体之间的系统发育关系提供新的见解。

Drs. Joseph Scott and Sharon Broadwater of the College of William and Mary are studying the details of cell division in groups of red algae (Rhodophyta) using scanning and transmisson electron microscopy. The number, kinds, and orientations of subcellular structures combine to create patterns of cell division that appear to be characteristic for major groups of red algae at the ordinal or subclass taxonomic level. Research is continuing on cell division patterns in groups of Corallinales and Batrachospermales, which at present are poorly known. The investigators are also conducting a search in red algae for the recently described protein centrin, which is a contractile protein thought to be present in all eukaryotic cells and involved in chromosome movement. In addition, the enigmatic unicellular organism Glaucosphaera vacuolata is being studied through electron microscopy and molecular and immunocytochemical methods. One of the unique characters of Rhodophyta, alone among the world's algae, is the lack of a flagellar apparatus, yet Drs. Scott and Broadwater have preliminary data indicating that G. vacuolata possesses a non-emergent flagellum located within a red-algal cytoplasm. Molecular and immunocytochemical tests are being made with the help of collaborators, to confirm the presence of centrin and of a reduced flagellum. The results will provide new insights into phylogenetic relationships within the red algae and with other groups of primitive organisms.