Morphology and Anisotomous Branching of rhizoids in Non-terminal Cells of a Spirogyra sp.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59796/jcst.V16N4.2026.224Keywords:
aniline blue, anisotomous branching, calcofluor white, developmental plasticity, rhizoid, spirogyraAbstract
Spirogyra, a widespread filamentous green alga, typically anchors to substrates via rhizoids at the filament termini, an anchoring strategy that enhances their resilience to environmental disturbance. In this descriptive study, we examined rhizoid morphology in a Spirogyra unialgal culture using light and epifluorescence microscopy coupled with Calcofluor white and aniline blue staining. We observed rhizoid-like structures associated with non-terminal (intercalary) cells, suggesting that these cells may possess an inducible developmental potential beyond terminal cell identity. The observed rhizoids were consistently rod-shaped and dichotomously branched; however, rosette morphologies were not observed, possibly due to culture conditions or species-level variation. Notably, these single-celled rhizoids also exhibited anisotomous branching (unequal bifurcation). To our knowledge, this is a previously uncharacterized morphological feature in Spirogyra and a novel observation for unicellular rhizoids, raising important questions about developmental plasticity in streptophyte algae.
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