Filament is constricted and bent so cytoplasm is separated. In about one hour the filament straightens, cytoplasm in reconnected and cytoplasmic streaming recommences.


Erica Martin, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps, Gwang Hoon Kim and John West

The cut edge of the cytoplasm pulls away from the wall, showing repeated expansion and contraction. Waves of streaming occur. A new wall is formed around the smaller protoplast in about 21 hours.

The cytoplasmic fragments condense, round up form new vacuoles and coalesce into a single protoplast, re-inflating to full size in 12 hours. Repeated waves of cytoplasmic streaming occur.


Erica Martin, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps, Gwang Hoon Kim and John West

Side puncture, face view and apical puncture, side view.

The cytoplasm retracts and closes up at the wound site within 5 minutes. As turgor pressure increases, ruptures occur and in succession at the wound site. Cytoplasmic streaming waves are evident. The same behaviour is visible in apical puncture. The cell fully recovers in 24 hours.


Erica Martin, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps, Gwang Hoon Kim and John West

This sequence shows closure of the sporangium from the vegetative filament, activation and discharge of zoospores, zoospore with a stephanokont flagellar ring and branching at the base of the empty sporangium.


Erica Martin, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps, Gwang Hoon Kim and John West

This sequence (31 sec) shows the female gametophyte vesicle with gametangium formed, gamete activation and discharge and finally, closing of the pore and recovery of the vesicle.


Erica Martin, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps, Gwang Hoon Kim and John West

Vesicles are continually transported from the perinuclear region to the cell's exterior in the unicellular red alga Glaucosphaera vacuolata Korshikov. This phenomenon was recorded with time-lapse videomicroscopy at one frame/second and is speeded up 25x for viewing.

From Reproduction in the Red Algae


Sarah M. Wilson, Jeremy D. Pickett-Heaps & John A. West