Coral cells capture dinoflagellates for symbiosis 2 (VIDEO)

Frontiers

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First stage in the formation of the mutualism ("symbiosis") between cells of the coral Acropora tenuis (Cnidaria: Acroporidae) [transparent] and free-living algae of its potential "zooxanthella" partner, the single-celled photosynthetic dinoflagellate Breviolum minutum (Alveolata: Symbiodiniaceae) [brown-green]. When the mobile A. tenuis cells encounter a free B. minutum, they engulf it with their pseudopodia.

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Kawamura, Sekida, Nishitsuji, Shoguchi, Hisata, Fujiwara, and Satoh

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