Differentiation of reproductive structures and experimental sex change in Volvox (Chlorophyta, Volvocaceae)
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper represents a brief review on current topics in both asexual and sexual reproduction of Volvox L., a green colonial freshwater alga, which is a valuable model of contemporary developmental biology of plants. In the case of asexual life cycle, the main attention is paid to published data on the mechanisms of differentiation into reproductive and somatic cells of Volvox carteri f. nagariensis Iyengar (the most thoroughly studied species and forma of Volvox) as well as to author’s data showing considerable ontogenetic diversity and different types (programs) of asexual development and reproduction processes within the genus Volvox. Published data on sexual reproduction and experimental sex change in Volvox are considered with respect to the abovementioned problem of ontogenetic diversity.
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