Dynamics of the growth, life history transformation and photosynthetic capacity of Oophila amblystomatis (Chlorophyceae), a green algal symbiont associated with embryos of the northeastern yellow spotted salamander Ambystoma maculatum (Amphibia)

Abstract

The recent discovery that the unicellular green alga Oophila amblystomatis, invades embryonic tissues and cells of the salamander Ambystoma maculatum prompted us to investigate the growth and life history transformations of the algal symbionts in egg capsules. During embryonic development, symbionts were first detected microscopically as a cohesive population of swimming cells in the vicinity of the blastopore around embryonic stage 17. This population of cells grew and at embryonic stage 25, a fraction of the population began to affix to the inside of the egg capsule. Cells then underwent syngamy, lost flagella, and transformed into non-motile cells. We observed a linear increase in the accumulation of such capsule-associated cells from embryonic stage 25 to 40. The population of zoospores did not grow over this period and showed a declining trend between stage 39 and 40. We verified the population growth by measuring relative chlorophyll a content and also measured quantum yield (QY) of photosystem II (PS II) using pulse amplitude modulated (PAM) fluorometry. The population, but not the cell size, of non-motile capsule membrane-bound cells increased modestly during a one-month period after hatching, and continued to contain high levels of chlorophyll a and photosynthetic capacity. We conclude that O. amblystomatis undergoes a life history transition in egg capsules and speculate that many of these symbionts become zygotes, rather than invading the embryo.