ENCYSTMENT OF THE DINOFLAGELLATEGYRODINIUM UNCATENUM: TEMPERATURE AND NUTRIENT EFFECTS1

ABSTRACT Sexual reproduction and encystment of the marine dinoflagellateGyrodinium uncatenumHulburt were induced in nitrogen and phosphorus‐limited batch cultures. Sexuality did not occur under nutrient‐replete conditions even when growth rate was reduced by non‐optimal temperatures. Growth was optimal over a broader temperature range than encystment and virtually no cysts were produced at some low and high temperatures where growth occurred. Most cells initiated sexuality as intracellular pools of each limiting nutrient reached minimum or subsistence levels as much as four days after extracellular nutrients were exhausted. High nitrogen cell quotas during the phosphorus experiment indicate that sexuality was induced by a shortage of phosphorus and not by an indirect effect on nitrogen uptake. Total cyst yield corresponded to successful encystment of 9–13% of the motile populations, yet 60–85% of the plateau‐phase motile cells were planozygotes (swimming zygotes formed from fusing gametes). Batch culture studies monitoring total cyst yield may thus seriously underestimate the extent of sexuality. More importantly, the number of cysts produced in a dinoflagellate population may be significantly reduced by environmental factors acting on the cells after sexual induction and fusion.