RUI: Nuclear Cytology and Centrin in the Red Algae

威廉和玛丽学院的约瑟夫·斯科特和莎伦·布罗德沃特博士正在使用扫描和透射电子显微镜研究红藻(红藻门)群体中细胞分裂的细节。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，这似乎是红藻主要类群在序类或亚纲分类水平上的特征。对珊瑚目和蝙蝠属群体的细胞分裂模式的研究仍在继续，目前人们对这些模式知之甚少。研究人员还在红藻中寻找最近描述的蛋白质Centin，它是一种收缩蛋白质，被认为存在于所有真核细胞中，参与染色体运动。此外，神秘的单细胞生物体空泡格劳氏旋毛虫正在通过电子显微镜以及分子和免疫细胞化学方法进行研究。红藻的独特特征之一是缺乏鞭毛器，这是世界上唯一的藻类，但Scott博士和布罗德沃特博士的初步数据表明，空泡红藻具有位于红藻细胞质中的非突起鞭毛。在合作者的帮助下，正在进行分子和免疫细胞化学测试，以确认是否存在中心素和减少的鞭毛。这些结果将为红藻内部以及与其他原始生物群体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.